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04-20-2006, 10:10 PM
Calif. court: no harassment in TV show sex jokes | Reuters.com (http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=televisionNews&storyid=2006-04-20T211358Z_01_N20237923_RTRIDST_0_TELEVISION-LEISURE-FRIENDS-DC.XML)
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that writers have the right to talk dirty and make lewd comments while creating a television situation comedy without having to worry about being sued.
The court said the writers of the hit TV series "Friends" did not create a hostile work environment or sexually harass a woman who worked for them by transcribing their raucous work sessions creating programs.
The case was closely watched in Hollywood, where several leading writers and civil liberties lawyers said the suit threatened to undermine freedom of speech and the creative process.
A spokesman for Warner Bros. Television, named as a defendant in the suit, hailed the ruling, saying: "Now we can continue doing what we do best, writing and producing hit television shows with the knowledge that our speech is protected."
The unanimous ruling by the state's high court upheld a lower-court decision throwing out the sexual harassment claim brought by former "Friends' transcriber Amaani Lyle against the writers and producers of the NBC sitcom.
She said was fired after complaining about being subjected to racial and sexual slurs. The show's writers said Lyle lost her job because she was a slow typist who often missed the jokes she was supposed to transcribe.
The Supreme Court said because "Friends" was an "adult-oriented comedy show featuring sexual themes," Lyle should have expected coarse language from writers producing jokes and scripts.
[/URL] (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=ntccmCnO) [URL=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=ICBKnBYH] (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=UkxlGtfu)
Link To Original Article (http://feeds.feedburner.com/Sxxxyorg?m=1566)
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that writers have the right to talk dirty and make lewd comments while creating a television situation comedy without having to worry about being sued.
The court said the writers of the hit TV series "Friends" did not create a hostile work environment or sexually harass a woman who worked for them by transcribing their raucous work sessions creating programs.
The case was closely watched in Hollywood, where several leading writers and civil liberties lawyers said the suit threatened to undermine freedom of speech and the creative process.
A spokesman for Warner Bros. Television, named as a defendant in the suit, hailed the ruling, saying: "Now we can continue doing what we do best, writing and producing hit television shows with the knowledge that our speech is protected."
The unanimous ruling by the state's high court upheld a lower-court decision throwing out the sexual harassment claim brought by former "Friends' transcriber Amaani Lyle against the writers and producers of the NBC sitcom.
She said was fired after complaining about being subjected to racial and sexual slurs. The show's writers said Lyle lost her job because she was a slow typist who often missed the jokes she was supposed to transcribe.
The Supreme Court said because "Friends" was an "adult-oriented comedy show featuring sexual themes," Lyle should have expected coarse language from writers producing jokes and scripts.
[/URL] (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=ntccmCnO) [URL=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=ICBKnBYH] (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/Sxxxyorg?a=UkxlGtfu)
Link To Original Article (http://feeds.feedburner.com/Sxxxyorg?m=1566)