Last year a colleague of mine was fired for having an office affair. Well ... it wasn't so much the affair that got him fired but the fact that he punched and kicked another colleague in the process.

The story goes something like this ...

8.30pm on the Friday before Christmas and a company I work with is having its Christmas party. The bar is open, music is playing and people are (by and large) getting drunk. Normally, the PR scene is one of drunken tales of romance and debauchery - but the mood was about to change.

12.15am Everybody who stayed out is well and truly drunk. Some people are dancing. Others are singing karaoke. And a few are trying to stand up. In rushes CW with blood rushing down his face. There's a bit of confusion before the rumors start flying.

1.15am The truth comes out. SM has not only punched but kicked, thrown and given CW a bit of a beating. CW is bruised in random parts all over and generally not feeling too great. Some of the girls are crying and the mood is generally quite bad. SM is no where to be seen. The police aren't called but the managers have a serious meeting in the corner.

10.30am (next day) SM is fired for assaulting a colleague and the company is generally still in a state of shock. It's a small company so events like this rock the place to the core. Not many people know why SM attacked CW but it's only a matter of days before more stories are revealed.

Weeks later ....

I find out that SM (the attacker) was having a long standing affair with LC in accounts. LC is a young, attractive lady whilst SM is married with children. They were having an affair for 6 months or so early in 2007. Mid way through 2007, LC breaks it off saying that she doesn't like SM anymore. He's a little upset and tries to get her back but LC likes a new joiner at the company - CW.

The story is that CW liked LC as well and the two decided to go on a few dates. CW was concerned about LC's last relationship with SM but LC said it was all ok and things had been sorted out. Turns out they hadn't.

For the last few months of 2007, LC and CW went on dates and generally acted like a 'couple'. But that all came to a head at the Christmas party. Fuelled by alcohol and the pressure of working so closely to someone that he had an affair as well as the new person on the scene, SM was pushed to the edge. And that edge proved too far. SM is lucky the police weren't called but suffered by way of losing his job.

I guess the moral of the story is that office affairs are tricky business. Some people have found love at work, but others, like SM above, have found something else. When one person (or both) is married the 'trickiness' level goes through the roof and then other factors come into the mix that complicates matters for those involved and those aware of the affair. Colleagues and other workers are involuntarily drawn into the mix so the damage isn't restricted to a few people and their families - an office affair is a often a tangled web affecting many people and the company culture as a whole.

I think this story is a good illustration of the way in which an office affair can upset a higher number of people then expected, whilst affecting the entire company culture. I think there will always be office affairs as long as a large number of people spend so much time in such close proximity to one another so this may be the sad face of society. But that never seems to soften the blow when things end up going sour - as they often do!