Should Companies Allow Cursing On The Job?

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. recently banned cursing in emails sent by its employees, The Wall Street Journal reported. The change comes after the company agreed to pay $550 million to settle civil fraud charges stemming from the sale of securities that were memorably described in an e-mail that was repeatedly referred to in a congressional hearing this year.

The e-mail, referring to a “shitty deal” offered a field day to Rep. Carl Levin (D-MI), who repeatedly used the language to excoriate Goldman officials in the April hearing. Presumably this particular episode is a major reason Goldman has banned such language in future emails.

However, eliminating cursing on the job as a company policy may be extremely difficult, if not impossible. In this digital age, dirty word usage is abundant. YouTube videos of politicians cursing, including rap versions of their potty mouths are easy to find. There’s even a whole website dedicated to tracking curse words on Twitter. And texting would be somehow lacking without borderline profane acronyms like “WTF”.

Ridding the office of cursing may even be unhealthy, as recent evidence suggests that cursing may help relieve stress and even foster camaraderie among coworkers.