The Glengarry Glen Ross Boss

In the brilliant movie Glengarry Glen Ross, Alec Baldwin "motivates" his sales team with a contest:  first prize is a Cadillac, second prize is a set of steak knives, and third prize is -- you're fired!  A sales manager is Utah seems to have been inspired by the movie.

In Huydens v. Prosper, a lawsuit claims that a supervisor would punish employees who did not meet performance expectations by drawing mustaches on their face with indelible marker.  He'd also walk around the office with a wooden paddle, and slam it on tables and desks.  The supervisor went too far for one employee, however, when the supervisor waterboarded him in the office.

According to the complaint, the supervisor asked for "volunteers" for a motivational exercise. The plaintiff alleges that he volunteered.  The employee and others were brought to a hill near the office, where he was ordered to lie down with his face pointed downill.  Other employees held his arms and legs, and the supervisor then poured water out of a gallon jug into his mouth and nose so he could not breathe.

The employee struggled, but was being held down by other employees and could not escape.  At the conclusion of this team building exercise, the supervisor told employees they should "work as hard at making sales as Huydens had tried to breathe."  The employee suffered nightmares and psychological difficulties, and ended up suing for a variety of claims.

The case ended up in the Utah Supreme Court after it was dismissed by a lower court judge.  Incredibly, one reason the court below dismissed the assault charge was that the exercise was done not with the intent to harm the plaintiff, but as a motivational exercise.  The Utah Supremes did not resolve the merits of the dispute, but instead send it back to the court for reconsideration. 

Waterboarding in the office.  What will they think of next.