Yet another example of the tyranny of the minority…
City employees with a strong aroma of perfume, cologne or any scented products will soon be in for a warning.
The employee, Susan McBride, was awarded $100,000 in the federal case because of her breathing sensitivity to chemical products — but she has yet to receive her money.
I hope Ms. McBride likes how it will smell, citywide, from now on.
It will probably smell like all those tourists that line up to tour the White House.
Two words: slippery slope.
The rights of the minority are upheld to trample the rights of the majority. In this case, the rights of a single individual — hilarious.
I wonder if this is the real reason for Detroit’s slide into poverty.
And the liberals/progressives feigned concern about the Patriot Act — really? Our privacy is just one of many concerns when preserving our liberty. They don’t seem surprised with a long-running conversion to a totalitarian regime, which they enabled and supported.
n.n, I agree. They whined & said it was a threat to freedom, but since Obama has reininstated it & will probably be increasing limits & controls over Individual Freedoms, they haven’t said a word. If this woman has breathing problems, make her show proof of the source of the offending chemical. Will it become standard procedure to bring suit against someone because of a perceived breathing problem due to flatulence. Maybe we should all receive a judgment award for having to listen to Obama’s & Congress members lies.
This has been going on for years–people using the Americans with Disabilities Act to sue because of smells. I saw a TV story years ago where 3 employees complained that the smells from the copy machine in the next room was making them sick. Their employers (I can’t remember if it was a private or public office) moved them to another office, but that wasn’t enough. They made them a cleanroom-type office with a separate ventalation system and they still complained. I think eventually they ended up declaring themselves unable to work and went on disability while waiting for a settlement. I’m not sure if they ever got their money either, but I am sure the lawyers did.
It’s frustrating that a law that was meant to help real people with real disabilities has been misused like this.
OldnyFirefighter:
She could wear a mask, if she respected other people and desired to preserve their rights. Since she is the exception, there should be limited measures implemented to reduce her discomfort. Just like other societal interventions and assistance, the measures chosen, if at all possible, should be at her expense.
In a society which promotes “shared responsibility, but not my responsibility”, her behavior is becoming the norm.
No one takes responsibility these days.
My little eight year old boy is recovering from a nasty dog bite he got playing at my sister’s house a few days ago. My son was in my sister’s backyard, standing near my sister’s fence talking and laughing with his cousin. Not only was he not provoking the obnoxious dogs next door who bark and harrass my nephews whenever they go into their own backyard–he was totally ignoring the dogs, which is what you are supposed to do. As he was standing with his back to the fence (and to the dogs), the large 80 pound shepherd mix stuck his head through my SISTER’S fence and grabbed my son by the skin of his back. Luckily he was saved by that same fence because he was able to pull away. It felt and looked like someone had grabbed his skin with some pliers and pulled. The pinched skin was totally white for a few minutes until the blood returned.
The neighbor’s response? My son shouldn’t have been standing next to the fence. They refused to take responsibility.
I’m not usually one to deal with the government, but I reported this to the county. I know I can’t make them care about my son but I help them see that they are legally responsible. People are so selfish and self absorbed, it is unbelievable.
n.n, I am afraid you are right. I have spent over 40 years as a Volunteer Firefighter, the only purpose of which was to help my neighbors or anyone else who needed assistance. If you knew how many times I personally & our Fire Company has been threatened with a Law Suit you wouldn’t believe it. We have been threatened for not arriving soon enough to save a home that was fully involved before 911 was even called. I realize that time stands still when your home is on fire but if a call comes in we usually have a crew of five Firefighters leaving the Firehouse within five minutes or less. If a home is 4 miles from the Firehouse, we can’t get there in two minutes. We can’t endanger civilians when responding to an accident or structure fire, we have to obey traffic laws the same as anyone else.
People don’t seem to care, it is all our fault even when the homeowner tries to put out a fire “before calling 911″ that they are not equipped to handle. That according to them, makes it our fault.
People do not accept responsibility for their mistakes, so it is our fault. This is why some people will not volunteer to join & many Fire Companies are failing to survive.
I’ve been hearing Liberals go on about “Perfume Allergies” for a long time now. “I don’t like the smell” has been elevated from a personal preference to a Medical condition (without requiring a doctor’s diagnosis) so that it can have the force of law.
eNeecie:
The best we can hope for, is that people learn that mutual respect is in their best interest. The likelihood is that each of us will be on the other side, at sometime during our life.
I would have done the same as you. Escalate the reponse only as much as necessary to resolve the issue to my reasonable satisfaction.
OldnyFirefighter:
The rise of frivolous lawsuits have been followed with the decline of good Samaritans and volunteers. There are very few people willing to accept liability for something beyond their control. It has become the burden of the volunteer to determine when and how to intervene. Eventually, ideally, the irresponsible will realize that they have lost more than they have gained. Since reality is far removed from the ideal, these people must be reminded of the facts. If they’re reasonable, then they will understand. If not, then they are a lost cause, and should be avoided.
This is obvious. Many, if not most, people know it. Which is probably the reason our society has survived as long as it has. The Detroit case is the exception, not the rule; but, lesser incidents of the same nature are more common, than I would have expected.
You should see the tyranny brought on in the workplace when a coworker has an allergy to nuts.
nice shot of a guy, bob. funny
She could also have negotiated with the worker to wear a different fragrance. I don’t know what happened, but there are alternatives to litigation and legislation, especially in such a simple case.
Y’know, its hard to smell anything offensive or otherwise with a broken nose.
Just sayin’
Sorry I got to be on the suer’s side. Some people can not be politely told to tone it down on the perfume. I am very sensitive to smells and it makes me sick. I would not sue but let me give you an example. One person that works here you can smell her before she turns the corner and for about fifteen feet behind her. That is too much.
It ok to put something on but when you can be detected minutes before you arrive you have got too much on. And since this is a common thread here, public employees are union and you can not tell them to tone it down, they will get in your face. So the only outcome for real sentive noses is a law suit.
ecotim,
Wait, I’m confused here. You can’t politely tell them to tone it down because they will get in your face but slapping them with a $100K lawsuit is okay?
“So the only outcome for real sensitive noses is a law suit.”
No, that’s not the only outcome. How about the person with the sensitive nose SOLVING THE PROBLEM?
If someone is sensitive to smells then he is going to have a problem where ever he works and where ever he goes. A lawsuit doesn’t fix anything. Even if this person gets $100K, which they probably won’t, she can’t live on that for the rest of her life. She will have to get another job. And unless she plans on suing every employer she works for (which I would think would eventually make it hard to get a job), she is either going to have to get used to being miserable (and making everyone else miserable) or take control of her life and find a solution.
I am also sensitive to smells and am allergic to perfumes and other scents. Gas fumes at the gas station and cigarette smoke can make me nauseous and sometimes even give me a migraine. But I have always thought that problems were to be fixed. I take sudafed for the allergies and I find chewing peppermint gum or an Altoid settles my stomach. Another solution is go to the health section of the grocery and check out the oils in the aromatherapy section. Find a smell you like that doesn’t make you sick. Then when you are stuck somewhere with a smell that is making you sick, you can put a few drops on a tissue or handkerchief and discreetly hold it in front of your nose. Nobody needs to know what you are doing—no big scene, no ugly confrontations.
People need to adapt. In the past if they didn’t learn to adapt to their environment, natural selection would take care of the problem for them. Now we are stuck with people like Ms. McBride who expects the environment to adapt to them.
eNeecie, same here – I have inhalant allergies as well. On of them is to COFFEE –yes, even the smell, I am allergic to beans for Pete’s sake! Do I sue and whine and moan and bitch? NO! I deal with the problem – thanks to pharmaceuticals I can usually weather the storm and move out of the area. I asked my boss to accomodate the problem, he has. No sweat, no muss, very little bother.
People that make a big issue of it are pansies and are probably looking for sympathy and probably money as well.
As you so well put it, “adapt”! ecotm, we know where YOU are coming from…
Igor
achoo!!
eNeecie and all, sorry I am not good at writing, you missed the point about unions. On both sides, union members will flaunt in your face and ignore your request. So if you are suffering a lot and no one will tone it down what do you do? Quit? Why, why should the one suffer because the rest are insensitive. And th eother part is that the destructive union would support or even encourage that person to file the lawsuit.
So basically it is all revolving around the union and how they get people to not be nice to each other.