Every employer has at least one challenging employee who makes the employee’s manager want to rip his or her hair out. Very few employers, however, have an employee who thinks he is a “high priest Vatican assassin warlock” who is made up of “tiger blood and Adonis DNA” and who makes his employment complaints known through tabloid television shows, tweets and webcast rants. Yes, Charlie Sheen, the “rock star from Mars,” is in a class unto himself and is engaged in a self-described “war” with Warner Brothers and the creator of “Two and a Half Men,” Chuck Lorre. Sheen’s latest move in this war is the filing of a lawsuit against Warner Brothers and Lorre alleging a variety of employment claims. These claims include disability discrimination under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), failure to pay wages as required by the Labor Code, and penalties under the Private Attorneys’ General Act (PAGA).Although most employers do not have a character quite as colorful as Sheen, all employers can learn something from the Sheen situation.
