Supreme Court Overturns TV "Friends" Case 05-03-2006
- By Rita Risser, attorney at law

Two years ago, we reported on a Court of Appeals case involving the writers of the popular TV show "Friends." Apparently, the writers on the show - all of them men - spent their meetings talking about their sexual experiences with women, making crude gestures, drawing organs on pictures of women, and fantasizing about having relations with the female actors on the show.

A woman writer's assistant required to take notes in the meetings sued for sexual harassment because she was forced to listen. The writers' defense was that since the show routinely contained innuendos and adult humor and situations, no alternative to these brainstorming sessions existed. As one writer explained, "you just never knew when something was going to pop up."

The Court of Appeals held that "creative necessity" might be a legitimate business reason for the vulgar language, and ordered the case sent back for trial. But the California Supreme Court went further, saying that creative necessity was a legitimate business reason, and dismissed the case.

What this means to you: In our Respectful Workplace programs on preventing harassment, some participants argue that they are "just joking" and don't mean to offend others. This case makes clear that there needs to be a legitimate business reason for telling sexual "jokes."

Lyle v. Warner Brothers Television Prods., California Supreme Court, No. S125171 (April 20, 2006)

Information here is correct at the time it is posted. Case decisions cited here may be reversed. Please do not rely on this information without consulting an attorney first.