Insurance Company Rewards Top Salesmen with Orgy, Prostitutes
Now that's an incentive plan. But don't you think an American version of the recently-reported German insurance orgy would run into, uh, regulatory problems.
A German insurance conglomerate has confirmed that in 2007 it rewarded its 100 best salesmen with an orgy at a Hungarian spa with 20 high-class prostitutes, reports the Daily Mail in London, quoting Handelsblatt.
We think we can safely say salesmen in this case.
German reinsurance giant Munich Re, now owner of the German insurer Ergo and its subsidiary Hamburg-Mannheimer, says Ergo event organizers even issued color-coded wrist bands to indicate which services partygoers could enjoy, reports the Mail.
The orgy took place in June 2007 at Budapest's Gellert Baths.
Talk about a "hostile environment."
"Women are a rare sight in the upper echelons of German companies. It's something many in the country's political establishment want to change with mandatory gender quotas," reports German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle in its English-language version.
That's spelled "orgie" in German, for the curious.
The party was a "clear violation" of company policy, Alexander Becker of Munich Re, reports CNN. He said the two employees most responsible left the company "in an unrelated restructuring." "We have to dig a bit deeper into details of that incident to see whether there are others still with us," CNN reports that Becker said.
Such a corporate-sponsored event would seem on its face utterly illegal under various American laws, including (without limitation) Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, and any state employment discrimination laws.
Now, Deutsche Welle's avowed purpose is to "promote understanding of Germany as an independent nation with its roots in European culture and as a liberal, democratic, constitutional state based on the rule of law."
So Deutsche Welle, a progressive government organ, has asked if a German insurance orgy means gender discrimination laws in Germany need to change in the future.
Related Resources:
- German insurer Munich Re held orgy for salesmen (BBC)
- German Insurer Says It Organized Orgy for Salesmen (ABC News)
- Is an employer liable for hostile environment harassment? (Findlaw)
- Has My Boss Created Hostile Work Environment? (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life)