Karen Filipelli is the regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Utica and ex-girlfriend of Jim Halpert.
History
Merger
Karen Filippelli is a sales representative and coworker of Jim's at the Stamford branch. At first, she doesn't think Jim fits in there and dislikes the way he looks at the camera, but eventually she grows to like him, apparently developing a crush on him. She transfers to the Scranton branch as part of the merger of the Stamford and Scranton branches, and she and Jim begin to date.
Job Interviews
After their job interviews in New York, Jim breaks up with Karen in New York City and returns to Scranton to ask Pam out for dinner. ("Beach Games")
When Michael comes to the Utica branch for a lecture, he sees that Karen is now pregnant and married. Karen asks Pam how Jim is doing and Pam tells her that she and Jim are engaged. Karen seemed genuinely happy for her (Lecture Circuit Part 1).
Threat Level Midnight
Karen appeared in Michael's movie "Threat Level Midnight". In it she appeared as a girl at a bachlorette party and flirts with Michael in it. Karen is later interviewed about it and asks the cameras why they are singling her out. In the movie, she also participates in "The Scarn", a crazy dance involved in the film with the rest of the people in the scene. (Threat Level Midnight)
Relationship
Romantic
Jim Halpert
Karen initially doesn't think Jim fits in there and dislikes the way he looks at the camera, but eventually she grows to like him and develops a crush on him, and they begin to date. They later broke up following job interviews.
Dan
21 months after her breakup with Jim, Karen is featured in the episode "Lecture Circuit". She is happily married to Dan, a dermatologist who she met at a bar, and is 8 months pregnant with their first child. She is gracious and warm in response to the news of Jim and Pam's engagement.
Professional
Karen is the regional manager of Dunder Mifflin's Utica branch. She explains her job as "an easy gig, when your boss isn't an idiot and your boyfriend isn't in love with someone else". She is a former sales representative at Dunder Mifflin's Scranton Branch, and formerly its Stamford branch before it closed.
Karen was twice passed over for promotion in favor of someone from the Scranton branch. She mentions that Jim received the position of Assistant Regional Manager over her. She is interviewed for the position of VP of Northeastern Sales, but the job ultimately goes to Ryan Howard.
Trivia
- Karen was a regular member of the Party Planning Committee during her time at the Scranton branch.
- Ryan admits to having asked Karen out by email after the Stamford and Scranton branches merged. She turned him down. ("Product Recall") Ryan lies about the incident to Kelly, turning the story around and claiming that it was Karen who had asked him out, and he turned her down.
- Karen dates Jim Halpert throughout the third season. Outside of the Office universe, Rashida Jones and John Krasinski dated for a brief period of time.
- Karen is the first female manager of a Dunder-Mifflin branch seen on the show. The second female manager was Nellie Bertram.
- Karen was twice passed over for promotion in favor of someone from the Scranton branch. In a deleted scene in "Gay Witch Hunt", she mentions that Jim received the position of Assistant Regional Manager over her. In the episode "The Job", she is interviewed for the position of VP of Northeastern Sales, but the job ultimately goes to Ryan Howard.
- Utica was her 3rd choice of a new job, number one was Dunder Mifflin Mexico City but that was closed due to a DEA Drug Bust, the 2nd was Dunder Mifflin Pine Bluff but they hired a new Regional Manager before she could board the plane.
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