In case you were excited about Google Romance, “[you fell] for our April Fool’s joke, in which case ha ha, wasn’t that amusing and harmless and mostly in good taste and not all psychologically damaging under various and sundry aspects of contemporary tort law, please don’t sue us.”
I leave to others the question of whether a publicly traded company can issue a deadpan April Fool’s press release without risking securities-law liability.
Not according to the ACLU of Southern California, at least. That’s the apparent lesson of a 1986 incident which drew little publicity at the time, but which David Bernstein recently investigated. The proprietors of the Alpine Village Inn in Torrance, Calif. were understandably outraged when a group of four customers came in wearing swastika pins and other Nazi regalia. It asked them to leave, but they refused and so it called the cops; its reward was to be sued by the ACLU under California’s Unruh Act for its failure to provide public accommodation to the Hitler fans. According to Bernstein’s informant, the restaurant’s insurer paid a settlement. (Feb. 24)
In The Old Days (ITOD for short) it was very unlikely that a six-year-old would draw a three-day suspension from first grade on grounds of “sexual harassment”, as one just did, says Ned Crabb of the Wall Street Journal (“Schoolyard cred”, OpinionJournal, Feb. 24). More: Wendy McElroy comments (“Sexual Harassment Policies Need Reform”, iFeminists/Independent Institute, Feb. 17).
In another giant leap for the equality of women, Broadway producer Dede Harris has demonstrated that its not just men who can get sued for sexual harassment. Paul Harris, “Turning the Tables on the Casting Couch” The Observer, Feb 19
Back in the news:
The California Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in a lawsuit brought by a writing assistant fired from the program, Amaani Lyle, who contends that the profanity-riddled and sex-laden diatribes of “Friends” writers constituted sexual harassment.
The company that produced the show, Warner Brothers, claims that programs about sex and relationships require frank and freewheeling discussion of the subject matter. The company has also warned that allowing Ms. Lyle to proceed with her case could put a strait-jacket on writers and dilute the quality of what Americans see on movies and TV.
(Josh Gerstein, “Sex Harassment Is Alleged By a Writer of ‘Friends'”, New York Sun, Feb. 15). According to the L.A. Times, yesterday’s session did not appear to go well for the plaintiff:
During a hearing in Sacramento, two of the state high court’s justices observed that Amaani Lyle, 32, was warned before she was hired for “Friends” that she would be subjected to sexually explicit talk in the writers’ room….
Justice Joyce L. Kennard appeared to find it significant that Warner Bros. had told Lyle to expect “a lot of sexual talk, very frank talk and at times vulgar” language. “She said, ‘No problem,’ ” Kennard related.
(Maura Dolan, “Justices Skeptical of ‘Friends’ Suit”, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 15). For our earlier coverage of the case, see Apr. 23, Jul. 19, Jul. 31, Oct. 19, and Nov. 17, 2004. Our coverage of harassment law generally is here.
“A jury on Friday said Southwest Airlines did not racially discriminate against an overweight passenger when she was asked to buy a second seat on her flight.” Nadine Thompson of Exeter, N.H., CEO of a successful cosmetics company, claimed the airline applied its “customer of size” policy in a racially discriminatory manner. On Friday Joel Drake, a Southwest employee, testified that Thompson herself had “accused him of being a ‘motherf—— racist pig’ and wished that his family would die from cancer when he tried to explain the company’s policy to her. …Thompson testified that Drake was bullying her and she felt scared, so words were her only way to fight back. She said she felt cornered and powerless.” (Kathy McCormack, “Jury: Southwest didn’t discriminate against passenger”, AP/Boston Globe, Feb. 10; “Told to buy 2 seats, Exeter woman sues Southwest, claims racial discrimination”, AP/Manchester Union-Leader, Feb. 8). Earlier second-seat suits: Dec. 20, 2000, etc. More: Thompson says she won’t appeal (AP, Feb. 15).
“The U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission must pay more than $1 million to a Pasadena law firm that it sued unsuccessfully last year for sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Dickran Tevrizian…. found that the EEOC filed a ‘frivolous’ lawsuit against Robert L. Reeves & Associates, which practices immigration law.” (AP/San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 25). There’s a discussion at WorkplaceProfBlog (Jan. 26).
New York: “The leadership of the State Assembly has agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a former legislative aide who said she had been raped by the chief counsel to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver….[former counsel J. Michael Boxley] will make a small payment toward the settlement, but most of the money will be taxpayers’ funds.” (Jennifer Medina, “Assembly Settles Suit on Sexual Misconduct”, New York Times, Jan. 28). See our coverage of Jun. 15, 2004. In a Summer 2004 City Journal piece, Stefan Kanfer sketches out a couple of the background aspects that make the whole episode piquant for Albany-watchers, if not for the parties involved:
Up in Albany, Sheldon Silver is speaker of the Democrat-controlled assembly — just the sort of guy a hard-line feminist could love, ever eager to promote laws punishing cads who take advantage of women. …Furthering the irony, Silver in his spare time is counsel to Weitz and Luxenberg, one of New York’s most influential law firms, known to prosecute torts like the one confronting the speaker.
Renee Gaud and Trisha Hart were hired as “Borgata Babes” by the Atlantic City casino of that name, made to sign an agreement requiring them to maintain hourglass figures and weight proportionate to their height, and were outfitted in “cleavage-baring bustiers, high heels and tight-fitting bolero-style jackets”. Then they discovered that managers were serious about the weight requirement and kept “emphasizing looks over job performance”. What could be more shocking or unexpected? So of course they’re suing (John Curran, “Waitresses sue casino over weight policy, allege discrimination”, AP/Newsday, Jan. 31; Dan Gross, “Ex-servers sue Borgata”, Philadelphia Daily News, Jan. 31).
George Gillespie of Medina County, Ohio, is suing America Online for allegedly failing to do anything about teasing, humiliation and abuse he endured in one of the online service’s chat rooms. His suit also names individual defendants who live in Oregon and Alabama; Gillespie alleges that the Alabama man actually traveled to Ohio to further his campaign of harassment. Attorney Mark Tarallo of Holland & Knight in Boston believes the plaintiff “will face a tough battle, particularly in the fight with AOL.” (Tresa Baldas, “Chat Room Chatter Draws Lawsuit”, National Law Journal, Jan. 6; Julie Wallace, “Internet, civil liberties collide in unique lawsuit”, Akron Beacon Journal, Dec. 19).