Lawsuit of the Day: Eau de TTT Civil Suit

Some people love perfume. Some people hate it. Susan McBride says it makes it “difficult for her to breathe and impossible to do her job.”

McBride filed a suit against the city of Detroit last year under the Americans with Disabilities Act, because of her government co-worker’s perfume. The Detroit News reports that Michigan District Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff has ruled that the suit can proceed:

Associated Content has more details:

[McBride] claims that in addition to wearing a strong personal fragrance that made her sick enough to leave the office, her co-worker also utilized a plug-in air freshener. The unnamed co-worker had allegedly agreed to discontinue the use of the plug -in air freshener but refused to do without perfume.

McBride, who is looking to have the workplace ban the use of such items to accommodate her sensitivity to them is seeking undisclosed damages as well. She has had to take time off of work, has required medical treatment for her illness, and has also had to suspend the fertility treatment she had been undergoing due to the medications she has needed to take resulting from the sensitivity.

The suit smells like money to us, especially given Michigan’s past treatment of perfume-hater suits. A radio DJ was awarded $10.6 million in 2005 after being sickened by a colleague’s “romantic, sensual, emotional” perfume, per the Detroit News.

There is no identification of the offensive perfume. If the co-worker wore one of those terrible pharmacy-purchased vanilla-scented ones, we suspect the jury will be full of pity for McBride.

Judge says perfume lawsuit can proceed [The Detroit News]

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Detroit City Employee Sues City Over Co-Workers Perfume [Associated Content]

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