Got pulled into HR over a coffee mug, then found out the company policy PDF was 47 pages long
I worked at a mid-size insurance office in Des Moines and got called into HR because my mug said "World's Okayest Employee." Someone reported it as degrading to the team. During the meeting I asked to see the actual dress code and conduct policy, and they handed me a 47 page PDF that nobody had ever read, including the HR guy. Buried on page 31 was a line saying mugs with "negative self-talk" could count as a morale violation. I got a written warning for a coffee cup, and the person who reported me still has a sign in their cubicle that says "This meeting could have been an email." Has anyone else been written up over office decor that wasn't even on the radar of the person enforcing it?