Aw: Why office romances are declining

The time-honored institution known as the office romance has survived threats like corporate no-fraternization policies, philandering chief executives, and David Letterman. (Or, in the recent case of former Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd, ambiguous contractors.) Now there’s a new legal menace: scorned workers who claim that an office affair fostered an invidious work environment, even if they weren’t actually involved in the romance themselves. So-called third party or hostile work environment sexual harassment claims are difficult to prove but easy to allege, particularly by employees fearing for their jobs in a sluggish economy…

The most pressing threat to the office romance, Solovay says, is the rise of the retaliation lawsuit. Such suits are waged by workers who claim they were fired to prevent them from filing a discrimination claim against their employer. Currently, retaliation suits are contributing to a wave of litigation that has employers in a panic. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s records show claims involving retaliation grew by 23 percent in 2008—roughly twice the rate of all other claims. They totaled 32,690 and accounted for approximately one-third of claims filed with the agency. Retaliation claims rose again last year, accounting for 36 percent of the total. The EEOC, whose mandate is to enforce federal antidiscrimination laws, has added 170 investigators across the country, in part to address the issue.

A once-amorous workforce already seems to be feeling the effects. This February, 75 percent of U.S. workers surveyed by job search website Monster.com believed a workplace relationship could bring a conflict. Sixty-two percent said they felt office romances were a distraction from job performance. Careerbuilder.com’s annual Valentine’s Day romance poll has shown an alarming decline in reported office trysts. In 2006, 50 percent of respondents claimed to have partaken in a workplace relationship during their career. Earlier this year, the number dropped to 37 percent.