Sarcasm in general is a destructive act and a type of passive aggressive behavior. It generally arises when a person is unable or unwilling to overtly express

Sarcasm in general is a destructive act and a type of passive aggressive behavior. It generally arises when a person is unable or unwilling to overtly express opposition or disagreement, so it comes up in the work environment because of the inherent unequal power relation of a supervisor/manager vs employee (at whatever level). Mild or occasional use of sarcasm (even outside of the workplace) does not necessarily signal a pathological environment. It can be used as a means to express opposition without threatening the superior's authority and/or risking one's job or power in the organization. However, if taken to the extreme or used chronically it indicates disrespect for the superior or feelings of powerlessness in the employee (which feelings may be unfounded or improper). Not sure about its relation to creativity but overly sarcastic work environments, I found, tend to stifle creativity but that is usually a consequence of bad management not anything particular to sarcasm, i.e. sarcasm can be a symptom of a toxic work environment.