EntertainHR: St. Denis Medical—Taking ‘Love Contracts’ to the Next Level
Following in the workplace comedy mockumentary footsteps of shows like The Office and Superstore, St. Denis Medical focuses on the staff of an Oregon hospital as they navigate the stress of medical emergencies amidst the often absurd details of their personal and professional relationships.
This all-star ensemble cast includes the hilarious Wendi McLendon-Covey as Joyce, the hospital administrator, who is equal parts Michael Scott and Beverly Goldberg (from The Goldbergs) but with an up-do and updated wardrobe. While delivering excellent patient care should be the primary focus for any hospital, Joyce is often distracted by the need to improve the hospital’s social media presence and keep her finger on the pulse of any juicy workplace drama unfolding.
For example, in Episode 8 of Season One, “Gimme the Scuttlebutt,” Joyce discovers first-hand that staff are hooking up in the on-call rooms. Anyone would be understandably alarmed to walk in on colleagues engaged in such an intimate act at work, but Joyce is most concerned about the fact that she has been left out of the gossip loop since transitioning from her role as doctor to administrator at the hospital. Her solution is to ferret out the scuttlebutt by having staff complete a highly questionable mutual consent form, which is certainly not going to any human resources department.
Some staff ignore her new form, but Dr. Bruce (a surgeon played by Josh Lawson from Superstore) embraces the opportunity to gather intel on everyone who might consider hooking up with him by campaigning to have colleagues list him on their mutual consent forms as a potential future romantic partner (to put it politely). He is both frustrated and intrigued when Val (played by Kaliko Kauahi, also from Superstore) flatly refuses to include him on her own diverse list of potential future romantic partners. What follows are some super-cringey and ultimately unsuccessful efforts by Dr. Bruce to entice Val into adding him to her potential suitor list.
Meanwhile, of course, Joyce has declined to address the underlying issue of staff using on-call rooms for canoodling sessions. In fact, our usually straight-laced, workaholic charge nurse, Alex (played by Allison Tolman) decides to inject a bit of romance into her marriage with some special time with her husband in the hospital VIP suite. For the second time this episode, Joyce then walks in on quite an uncomfortable situation with the cameras rolling.
While this writer has been covering the concept of “love contracts” since our firm’s That’s What She Said blog about The Office, the staff of St. Denis take it to a whole new level. Clearly, permitting candoodling in any workplace is a bad idea on so may levels, not to mention the potential hostile work environment claims arising from Dr. Bruce’s misguided campaign for future suitor status. The lesson for employers? Do the exact oposite of everything that happens in this admittedly hysterical episode.
Kristin Gray is a partner in the Spartanburg office of FordHarrison. She represents employers in litigation and counseling across industries on issues like discrimination, harassment, wage-hour disputes, leaves/accommodations, employment policies, and HIPAA compliance.
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