Workstations are company's property, so it sets rules on offensive decor

By Chris Graham
Des Moines Register

The Des Moines Register's human resources department recently examined cubicles in the newsroom, looking for offensive decor that violated company policy.

One co-worker had to remove a poster of rocker Melissa Etheridge showing her bare back. Another had to remove a "sex god" magnet.

My coconut bra, fluffy bunny ears and picture of a friend hugging the cast of MTV's "Real World Chicago" were untouched — although that television show was offensive in its own right.

Truth is, offensive decor can be classified as workplace harassment and pose potential legal problems for any company.

"Workstations are expected to reflect professionalism and safety," said Joyce Ray, the newspaper's vice president of human resources. "Employees are permitted to make their workstations comfortable and to display photographs and personal articles as long as those items are appropriate for the workplace and free of any reference that may be viewed as offensive or discriminatory."

Wait a minute. Aren't employees' workspaces their own? Shouldn't the turf where workers occupy eight hours a day be their own little castles, their decorative Shangri-la providing a festive contrast to a mean boss?

Nope.

Workers tend to forget that their companies own everything: the desk, the chair, the computer, the mouse, the phone. Companies can set the rules. It's not a redecorating democracy, experts said.

Employers usually define questionable decor at the office as anything a reasonable person might find offensive.

When the policy lacks enforcement, that's when workers — in the most severe cases — start Internet porn businesses from their work computer, tack up sexually explicit pictures or use the phone to describe last night's hot and heavy encounter that everyone nearby hears.

Hello, lawsuit city.

Employees need to know they're not in the business of offending customers and each other. They should concentrate on business at hand.

For some workplaces, questionable office decor is a tougher line to walk.

The Des Moines radio station KAZR-FM, known for its sharp-tongued DJs and for occasionally sponsoring events at a strip club, has faced the issue.

"It's a judgment call as long as it's not too racy," program director Sean Elliott said. "Last year we put out a LAZER Rock Girls calendar, and it did have some skin involved in it, but it had been deemed fine.

"But there have been instances where it's just been a little too sexy or racy and we've asked an employee to pull something down."

Several female workers complained that some of the computer screen savers, showing women wearing see-through shirts, made them uncomfortable. Managers removed them immediately.

"You have to respect employees, and different things will offend certain people," Elliott said. "There's also the legal issues on top of it that we have to be aware of."

That's it. I'm taking my coconut bra home.

Chris Graham is a writer for the Des Moines Register.