Last week, the California Supreme Court listened to arguments regarding the limits of sexual harassment protections when it comes to free speech in the workplace.
The high-profile lawsuit was filed in 2000 by a former writers’ assistant, Amaani Lyle, on the hit television show “Friends.” Lyle charged the writers’ room was a pit of crude talk and behavior. The male writers, she claimed, engaged in frequent sexually explicit and vulgar discussions, graphic conversations about the actors’ and writers’ own sex lives, among many other things.
Lyle filed a sexual harassment suit against the writers and Warner Brothers, which produced the sitcom, claiming that the behavior created a hostile work environment. Warner Bros. argued that the conduct in the writers’ room didn’t violate the sexual harassment laws because it was necessary to the creative process of developing episodes for the show and amounted to protected speech.
After a California appeals court in 2004 sided with Lyle, giving her the green light to take her case to a jury, Warner Bros. appealed to the California Supreme Court. The high court’s decision in the case is expected in mid-May.
Additional Resources:
“Sexual Harassment: ‘Friends’ TV Show’s ‘Creative Necessity’ Defense to Harassment Claim Proceeds to Jury; 3 Tips to Keep You Out of Court,” in the June 2004 issue of the California Employer Advisor
The Step-By-Step Sexual Harassment Prevention Guide for California Employers