Why 'A Father-Son Talking-To' Is So Troubling

“Toby is in HR, which technically means he works for corporate, so he’s really not a part of our family,” Michael Scott told the documentary cameras, of his arch-enemy, in the second season of The Office. Unable, in classic Scottian style, to help himself, the Dunder Mifflin branch manager added: “Also, he’s divorced, so he’s really not a part of his family.”

captured many awkward truths about the American workplace of theallegations and revelations—the “Harvey effect,” my colleague Adrienne LaFrance —have made clear how problematic a familial framework can be in a professional environment. So many women who didn’t trust their HR departments to properly handle theirexperiences; so many instances of women forced to give up their jobs—their families—rather than stay on in environments where they were harassed. So many instances of employees who were not, in the end, treated like family.