Curses foiled at the workplace

Maybe it’s from working all day next to a stifling-hot oven. Or dealing with hungry customers demanding their food. Or just from living in a place where people don’t mince words to get what they want.

No matter what the reason, Bob Montague, a pizza maker at Rizzo’s in Ocean Township, N.J., said the language among workers behind the scenes can get quite blue.

“Are we ever tempted (to use profanity)?” Montague asked. “It’s every other word.”

Profanity is becoming common in and out of the workplace, but experts warn that managers and employees need to be careful. What’s considered stress relief to one worker can be offensive to another. And left unchecked, it can spell legal trouble.

That means headaches that few companies have time to deal with. For that reason, some employers are taking steps to create a more civil workplace, where workers can express their frustration in ways that won’t upset others around them.

Who hasn’t muttered under their breath — or out loud, for that matter — an expletive to express their frustration with the situation? The list is long. President Bush at a summit, describing the actions of Hezbollah. Or, to lip readers, Tiger Woods at a golf tournament when a putt doesn’t break his way.

But experts say employers need to be on guard against letting swearing become so pervasive that it becomes part of a company’s culture and crosses the line. Workers shouldn’t direct profanities at co-workers or customers. And they should steer clear of language that’s tinged with sexual, racial or religious connotations.

“There are no morality rules, if anybody wants to call them that,” said Corrado Gigante, director of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Newark, N.J. But “offensive language that rises to creating a … hostile work environment should be a concern to any management staff.”

Lewis Robertson, an employment and civil rights attorney in Little Silver, N.J., said curse words spoken in general probably aren’t enough to land an employee and employer in legal trouble. Robertson said that hardly gives employees a green light to swear.

Bob Montague said he tries to keep a lid on bad language and can only recall one time a customer complained about it. But in the 13 years he’s worked here making pizza, he has seen plenty of new employees come through the doors.

“After a while they pick it up,” he said. “And they blame it on us.”