Top Ten Most Interesting Employment Law Cases
As part of our ongoing commitment to providing our loyal viewers with the finest in employment law education, we’re counting down our Top Ten Most Interesting Employment Law Cases.
Here’s #9 . . .
DJ GETS $10.6 MILLION FOR CO-WORKER’S NOXIOUS PERFUME
A Detroit DJ was awarded $10.6 million for her employer’s failure to accommodate her alleged sensitivity to a co-worker’s perfume.
Erin Weber, a former top-ranked radio personality for WYCD-FM, claimed that she was fired in retaliation for her complaints about a co-worker’s perfume. The perfume was worn by another on-air personality, Linda Lee.
Weber alleged that she was allergic to a perfume called Tresor, described in ads as “romantic, sensual, emotional.” Weber claimed that the station refused to accommodate her requests that Lee not wear the perfume in the workplace. She said that exposure to Tresor made her lose her voice, resulted in absences from work and forced her to take medication. The effects were so severe that she said she once “felt an electric shock quell through [her] entire body.”
Weber claimed that the station did not adequately address her complaints and that Lee continued to wear the perfume. Among her allegations were that Lee ”intentionally” walked by her at the Downtown Detroit Hoedown while wearing the perfume. Said Weber: ”Linda nearly brushed past me and a cloud of perfume trailed behind me. To have brought the perfume with her suggests forward planning. This appears to be a premeditated attack which was entirely unprovoked by me in any way.”
Weber also claimed that the station and its owner “blacklisted” her following her firing, hampering her ability to work in the industry.
The jury awarded Weber $7 million in punitive damages, $2 million for emotional distress and $1.6 million in back and front pay.
“I’m thankful that the jury took so much time to come to the right conclusion,” Weber said. “It’s a great day.”
Case #8 will be coming your way soon.