Many office romances, however, are casual and fleeting relationships that have the potential to end badly. Such relationships can result in difficult-to-defend sexual harassment claims. In these situations, an employer may find itself facing allegations that what once may have appeared to be a consensual relationship was really a coerced quid pro quo relationship in which sexual relations were demanded by a supervisor in exchange for promotions or continued employment. Thus, office romances can be risky in terms of liability, a fact revealed almost daily in the nation’s newspapers. Employers can avoid, or at least reduce the chances of major legal problems by taking some steps to safeguard against the unintended legal consequences of office romances. Some of these safeguards are:

• Implement Policies for Workplace Romance. A policy against fraternization should be in the employee handbook and should require disclosure of office romances. Employers, must also decide what the consequences for noncompliance with company policy will be, and enforce them without bias.

• Prohibit Romance Between Boss and Subordinate. It’s important for employers to implement a policy that prohibits managers and subordinates from engaging in romantic relationships. Otherwise, an employer runs the risk that the subordinate later brings a sexual harassment lawsuit claiming to have been coerced or pressured into the relationship for fear of his/her job.

• “Love Contracts”. It is unreasonable to think that employers can eradicate office romance. Employees will still date one another, even if in direct contravention of a written policy. Some people, in fact, have legitimate relationships with co-workers. In these cases, a growing number of companies require the employees involved to sign consensual relationship agreements, a.k.a. “love contracts.” Such an agreement requires both individuals to acknowledge the following: the relationship is voluntary and consensual; they understand the company’s policy against harassment; they will keep the relationship discreet to avoid claims of favoritism, and they will both conduct themselves professionally at work if the relationship comes to an end. “Love contracts” can provide significant protection against liability for employers that use them appropriately.

• Avoiding Favoritism Claims. If an employer becomes aware of a relationship between a supervisor and non-supervisory employee who is not the supervisor’s subordinate, the employer should take remedial measures to ensure the supervisor will not have any decision making authority regarding the non-supervisory employee’s promotions, raises, evaluations, or other terms and conditions of employment. These remedial measures will help avoid perceived favoritism and related claims by employees who believe they have been prejudiced by the relationship. Unfortunately, most employers are not motivated to adopt such fraternization policies until a workplace incident triggers such action. The best approach would be to develop a well thought out policy now and implement it before a serious workplace issue develops.