Cleveland employment lawyer Jon Hyman tells a bizarre story of his attempt to get to a mediation being held at the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. He had his laptop and all his papers in a backpack, and backpacks were not allowed into the Commission's building.

No metal detectors or pat-downs or other security – just a rule against backpacks.

Solution? Put the backpack into a shopping bag and carry it in that way?

Dumb? Sure. But it all made sense to the "security" folks.

For the whole story, including a mediator's contribution: What's is the dumbest workplace policy you've ever encountered?