‘Expulsion of gas’ by co-workers immature, but not harassment

You can call someone a lunatic without having to worry about being sued over it. The Massachusetts Appeals Court has ruled that the word is an expression of opinion, not fact, and thus cannot be the basis of a suit for libel or slander.

An air traffic controller at Logan Airport once made a federal case out of “the expulsion of gas by male co-workers in her presence.” Her harassment claim was dismissed by a judge who found that “this behavior, however immature, did not exceed the limits of what a person given responsibility for the lives and safety of airplane passengers would be expected to have the capacity to tolerate.”

The earliest known legal ruling, found on a clay tablet, dates from 1850 B.C. The case involved a murdered husband whose widow was spared the death penalty. Three men who were found guilty weren’t so lucky and ended up being executed in front of the victim’s house.

The movie stars who have won Oscar nominations for portraying lawyers include Tom Hanks (“Philadelphia”), Emma Thompson (“In the Name of the Father”) and John Houseman (“The Paper Chase”).

Is it discriminatory for an employee to be fired and told, “People don’t like your kind here”? The answer is no. “One dubiously racist comment, assuming it was made, cannot suffice to permeate the workplace with the abuse required by  the Supreme Court,” U.S. District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro in Boston ruled.

— Thomas E. Egan

tom.egan@exhibitAnews.com