If you thought “waterboarding” was something specific to the CIA and torture chambers, read on. 

Employee’s suit: Company used waterboarding to motivate workers
By Erin Alberty
The Salt Lake Tribune

A supervisor at a motivational coaching business in Provo is accused of waterboarding an employee in front of his sales team to demonstrate that they should work as hard on sales as the employee had worked to breathe.
  In a lawsuit filed last month, former Prosper, Inc. salesman Chad Hudgens alleges his managers also allowed the supervisor to draw mustaches on employees’ faces, take away their chairs and beat on their desks with a wooden paddle “because it resulted in increased revenues for the company.“
  Prosper president Dave Ellis responded that the allegations amount to “sensationalized” versions of events that have gone uncorroborated by Hudgens’ former coworkers.
  “They just roll their eyes and say, ‘This is ridiculous . . . That’s not how it went down,‘ “ Ellis said.
  The suit claims that Hudgens’ team leader, Joshua Christopherson, asked for volunteers in May for “a new motivational exercise,“ which he did not describe. Hudgens, who was 26 at the time, volunteered in order to “prove his loyalty and determination,“ the suit claims.

full article here

Prosper attorney George Brunt said Hudgens lodged the complaint six weeks after the exercise; in the meantime, Hudgens joined his team on a water skiing retreat and drove the boat, Brunt said. Ellis said Christopherson was suspended for two weeks while managers investigated Hudgens’ complaint. Christopherson returned to work and remains the sales team leader, Ellis said.
  “It’s incredible to even suggest that he would put anyone under a level of discomfort,“ Ellis said. “He’s a really nice, pleasant, polite young man. He’s very dedicated and takes his job very seriously.“
  However, the suit claims Christopherson “intentionally engaged in physically and emotionally abusive conduct” to punish workers who did not meet company performance goals.
  “Prosper’s management passed by and through Christopherson’s team area and was able to see mustaches on its employees, missing chairs and Christopherson’s paddle,“ the suit alleges.
  Ellis said no managers have said they saw the activities described in Hudgens’ suit, and the employees reported they are “more along the lines of fun.“
  “It’s voluntary, it’s humorous, it’s team and camaraderie-building,“ Ellis said.
  Hudgens left Prosper because of sleeplessness, anxiety and depression he experienced after the waterboarding, the suit claims. He required psychological counseling for emotional trauma, the suit claims.
  The suit accuses Christopherson and Prosper of assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and wrongful termination. It and accuses Christopherson of interfering with Hudgens employment relationship with Prosper.
  Prosper “provides executive-level coaching for individuals,“ according to its Web site. Personal coaches offer mentoring that focuses on business and finance.
  “Our mission is to provide our students with the education and hands-on experiences they need to achieve their personal and professional goals,“ the Web site claims. “We strive to make the road to personal achievement meaningful, rewarding, and enjoyable.“

That’s from the core article.  If you read both the refered article and the core reference, you note that he was asked to lie down and someone poured a jug of water over his head.  No one else admits to “holding his arms and legs”. 

It’s sounds like a combination sore employee/over zealous team leader combo to me.  If they held his arms down, he would have been at the police desk while his shirt was still wet!

Something like that is so far over the top,  people who have ANY freedom at all don’t just “sit on it”.  As for the mustaches and crap, that’s pretty s.o.p. for MANY sales teams.  It more in the way of a competition.  If you lose your chair more than once, though, you better start looking for another job!

Besides, “a little WATER never hurt nobody!“  BWAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!

I don’t know about the ‘companionable’ methods used in this situation (I, personally, would NOT volunteer for anything appearing like waterboarding though) but I see little difference between this motivational method and taking a group retreat to a paintball or lazer shooting galla which could, I suppose, also be viewed as ‘mock murder’, assault and battery, etc. if reported cleverly.

In my army unit, we used to play different practical jokes on the newbies. One involved tricking them into being pinned down and then they were covered in beer. Our padre once wanted to be ‘indoctrinated’(before he knew it was a joke). We were hesitant, but after the joke played out he was happy that he was now closer to being ‘one of the boys’.

I have no doubt that if we werent in a friendly situation, and it wasnt part of group fun, we could all be charged with assault for that. So, for the example above, if everyone was happy with it, it wouldnt be an issue. If someone doesnt really want to be there, I’m sure you could make any group situation seem like torture with some mild bending of facts.