Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

Sexual harassment lawsuits of the future: Comic-Con edition

Electronic Arts surely has better lawyers than the ones who signed off on this contest (h/t cirocco), which merely asks for a standard grip-and-grin photo, but can be read to require photos of “acts of lust” upon booth models. And that’s not even taking account of the Alfred Ravas of the world, since Comic-Con is in San Diego, and thus subject to the Unruh Act…

Filed under: , , ,

8 Comments

  • I’m sure they’re independent contractors rather than employees. You know, like at a barbershop. Or a titty bar.

    And the link article laments that these “poor women” are then forced to interact “socially” with the winning pathetic greaseball. If the girls are getting paid, it’s only “social” for the guy.

    • By tekel

  • I don’t think the girls will have to worry about carrying a can of mace to get rid of aggressive guys. Most of them will be carrying plain ol’ maces (and swords, and electro-lances).

    • By Xmas

  • The ironic thing might be (A) if the winner was female; and/or (B) if the “poor woman/women” were game-players themselves!

    Seriously, can we get off of the stereotype of a game player as a glasses-wearing, under-sexed,teenage/college-age, possibly out-of shape guy (“geek”) who plays video games . . . and admit there are many other men who do play who look nothing like the stereotype?

  • I do have a question–could any attempt to charge “sexual harrassmant” be avoided beforehand, when the booth models are hired, by saying that this contest is going to be a part of the work done (and I assume there will be some kind of chaperones!) at Comic-con? Similar to a woman going into Hooters and gets hired, she can’t complain a whole lot about the uniform afterward in charging sexual harassment?

  • Shades of the Open Source Boob debacle at another relatively recent convention.

    • By Ken

  • […] Ted Frank at Overlawyered alerts us today to some very choice stupidity by folks at Electronic Arts. EA is one of many exhibitors at the vast comics-and-science-fiction extravaganza Comic Con in San Diego. EA came up with a sin-themed contest, and as one component of it, challenged convention-goers to win prizes as follows: “COMMIT ACTS OF LUST: Take Photos With Us Or Any Booth Babe.” Participants were then exhorted to twitter those “Acts of Lust.” […]

  • “Seriously, can we get off of the stereotype of a game player as a glasses-wearing, under-sexed,teenage/college-age, possibly out-of shape guy (”geek”) who plays video games . . .”

    I take it that you didn’t watch the broadcast of Comic-Con ’09 on G4 last week?

    • By wfjag

  • No, I asked my nephew–who just came back from San Diego–who was a member of the press corp covering Comic-con.