Excerpted from Tennessee Employment Law Letter, written by attorneys at the law firm Miller and Martin
Are you in compliance with the federal Anti-Cursing and Profanity in the Workplace Act? OK, before you call your lawyer asking why she hasn´t told you about this federal law, there´s no such beast. But is cursing or profanity something that you should have on your radar?
You bet it is. Why?
Nonlegal reasons. Depending on the kind of business you have, cursing just may be downright unprofessional. Does it really help your business if your customers, clients, and the general public are subjected to widespread cursing in your workplace?
Even in a society that´s grown more receptive to vulgarity, most of us would be taken aback if we walked into an office and were greeted by a receptionist with "How the hell can I help you?" or "Would you like to have a damn seat in our waiting area?"
Of course, many employees would just as soon not work in that kind of environment. Moreover, it´s probably not going too far to say that a supervisor, manager, or executive with a foul mouth is an intimidator rather than an inspirer. End result? Not a good place to work. Lots of conflict. Lack of respect. And all of that can lead to legal problems.
Legal reasons. More often than not, any discrimination claim includes a complaint about language. The allegedly offensive language may take the form of a sexual, racial, or ethnic slur, but it also may involve something that falls into the category of pure cursing.
The same is true of harassment claims. Offensive language is complained about, and it almost always involves profanity. And some cursing involves words that actually will help to prove the underlying harassment claim.
For example, if you use the word "bitch" in connection with a female employee, most of us would say that´s not only a curse word but a word connoting a derogatory or harassing attitude toward women.
Similarly, the use of the f-word in describing the kind of relationship you´d like to have with an employee would involve profanity and proof of harassment.
Some employees may find the profanity to be offensive to their religious sensibilities. If you permit it to continue after an employee complains on that basis, you may have the makings of a religious discrimination or harassment claim.
Perhaps the most serious legal problem is workplace violence. Some workplace fights have probably been started without the use of profanity - but not many. Some deaths as a result of workplace violence have probably occurred without a curse word being uttered - but not many.
Cursing often involves hostility, which frequently leads to an employer´s worst nightmare: workplace violence.
Dadgummit, here´s what you can do
Should you have a policy on cursing? There´s certainly no legal requirement to have one. It may not even be a good idea. We already have plenty of policies that are difficult to interpret and enforce consistently.
It´s not unusual, however, to have a policy dealing with workplace respect. If an employee is "cussing out" a coworker, that´s not respect.
Also, for the legal reasons discussed above, it´s certainly appropriate for you to tell a profane employee to cut it out, even without a policy specifically addressing the subject. If he can´t control his profanity, discipline and then termination would be appropriate.
If you think cursing is out of control in your company, maybe it´s time to do some training. Some employers are beginning to do that. You start with a simple discussion of the problem - why it´s not good and the legal and nonlegal reasons for curtailing it.
And maybe you offer a few suggestions to help the extreme cursers, like substituting the following "oldies but goodies" for the curse words: Nuts! Blast it! Fudge! Fiddlesticks! Dadgummit! Darn it! Doggone it! Shucks!
Then you pretty much lay down the law: "We´re not going to put up with real cursing anymore."
And here´s one final bit of legal advice: Bite your tongue.
