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Sex harassment meets first amendment - court ducks the issue
April 20, 2006 by Ross Runkel at LawMemo
A comedy writer's assistant claimed that the sexually explicit banter by the writers was sexual harassment. She lost, of course, because she was forewarned that this would happen, and the writers' work was to generate an adult-oriented TV comedy (Friends) that featured sexual themes. Most of the banter was not directed at her or at other women in the workplace.
Lyle v. Warner Bothers Television (California 04/20/2006).
The California Supreme Court had previously announced that it might be addressing the question of whether imposing liability under California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) would infringe on the defendants' free speech rights. Alas, because the plaintiff could not make out a prima facie case, the court was able to avoid deciding the first amendment issue.
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