If you've ever been to the bathroom in a restaurant or a bar in New York, you must have seen this sign. It's always there, saying "Employees must wash their hands before returning to work," or something of the sort.
I always wonder how effective that sign is. I mean, I'm sure there's some kind of legal duty (either a statute or a city ordinance) making it mandatory to have one of those signs in every toilet in every business that sells food. I wonder if that duty is just on the business owners to locate the sign in their bathroom, or if there's an actual legal duty on employees to wash their hands, and the owners just have to notify their employees of that duty.
I mean, how would anyone know if the employee actually washed her hands before returning to work? If it's one of those places where the sink is located in the same room with the toilet seat, it's all done behind locked doors and there's no way to tell. It's like a cat in a box with no openings. You have no idea what's going on inside.
They always teach you in law school that the law wouldn't create a duty it cannot enforce. They also teach you that there's a distinction between the public sphere (where duties and rights are regulated) and the private sphere (where one is free to do as she likes). But the duty set on employees to wash their hands after using the toilet is completely unenforceable, and is located in the most private sphere one could imagine. One little sign is defying everything I ever knew about law.
I always wonder how effective that sign is. I mean, I'm sure there's some kind of legal duty (either a statute or a city ordinance) making it mandatory to have one of those signs in every toilet in every business that sells food. I wonder if that duty is just on the business owners to locate the sign in their bathroom, or if there's an actual legal duty on employees to wash their hands, and the owners just have to notify their employees of that duty.
I mean, how would anyone know if the employee actually washed her hands before returning to work? If it's one of those places where the sink is located in the same room with the toilet seat, it's all done behind locked doors and there's no way to tell. It's like a cat in a box with no openings. You have no idea what's going on inside.
They always teach you in law school that the law wouldn't create a duty it cannot enforce. They also teach you that there's a distinction between the public sphere (where duties and rights are regulated) and the private sphere (where one is free to do as she likes). But the duty set on employees to wash their hands after using the toilet is completely unenforceable, and is located in the most private sphere one could imagine. One little sign is defying everything I ever knew about law.
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