Allergic Employee Sues To Ban Perfume At Work
“An office worker for the US city of Detroit is suing for her colleagues to be banned from wearing perfume which gives her such severe headaches, nausea and coughing fits that she must leave work.
Court documents showed Thursday that Susan McBride suffered so acutely from allergy to the chemicals in scents, lotions and sprays that she had to go home sick when a heavily perfumed co-worker shared her office at the city’s historic districts department….
Now she is seeking a jury trial to make the city force fellow employees to come to work un-scented, citing disability discrimination laws. She is claiming unspecified damages for “pain, suffering, humiliation and outrage” suffered.”
Quote from the Associated Press
Susan McBride is the poster girl for the “Me Generation”; it’s all about everyone ceding to her wishes and whims.
For some women perfume is essential to their sense of femininity; they never leave home without spraying some on. It would be the epitome of unfairness to ban perfume in the workplace to accommodate just one employee.
McBride is allergic to lotions and sprays as well as perfume.. What about employees who use lotion for skin conditions, are their needs less important than McBride’s?
It’s unfortunate that McBride suffers from such an inconvenient allergy; but it’s incumbent on her to seek a solution. She can work from home, or find another job where she is not in proximity to other employees.
Polyester is an outrage to my sense of aesthetics, but I would never urge my manager to ban the unholy material from the workplace. It’s up to me to make a sign of the cross and look away when a polyester-clad employee approaches my cubicle.
McBride’s lawsuit is a slap on the face to people who suffer from real disabilities. I can’t influence the outcome of the jury case, but I can use my power as a pundit to discredit her frivolous lawsuit.
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I write a weekly column for a small town newspaper in Virginia, and I also write for several Web sites. Please leave a comment or send me an email at: rreyes4966@aol.com | More from Robert Paul Reyes
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