Warner Bros. prevailed Thursday in a closely watched workplace speech case, as the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the sexual banter among writers on the hit series Friends did not violate the rights of a writers' assistant who sued for harassment. The 7-0 decision by the high court marked the end of Amaani Lyle's lawsuit, which was filed after she was fired in October 1999 over the quality of her transcription skills. Warner Bros. Television Prods. and the other defendants -- NBC Studios, Bright/Kauffman/Crane Prods. and writer-producers Adam Chase, Gregory Malins and Andrew Reich -- asserted First Amendment rights to free speech, but the justices did not need to consider what was essentially their second line of defense. The high court instead threw it out simply on the grounds that Lyle's claims did not amount to harassment under California law.
- 4/20/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The California Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in the case of a former writers' assistant on Friends who claims that the racy language used in writing sessions amounted to sexual harassment in the workplace. Attorneys for the show's producers, Warner Bros. Television Prods., argued that the language was part of the writing process, shielding the studio and its writers from the suit. Amaani Lyle, 32, filed the suit in 2000 after being fired because she could not adequately transcribe the writers' jokes or ideas as they brainstormed story lines.
- 2/15/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The California Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to review a harassment case that could put severe limits on what can be discussed in such workplaces as a television writers' workroom, university classroom or newsroom. The case stems from a discrimination and harassment claim by Amaani Lyle, a writers' assistant on Friends who was fired in October 1999 because she was not able to quickly and accurately record the writers' jokes and comments as they brainstormed story lines. Lyle sued Warner Bros. Television Production, Bright Kauffman Crane Prods., three writers and a producer for discrimination, retaliatory firing and sexual and racial harassment. A trial court dismissed all of the claims, but the state appeals court upheld Lyle's harassment claims even though none of the writers' banter, which was largely sexual in nature, was directed at her.
- 7/22/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A former writer's assistant on sitcom Friends has been given the go-ahead to re- sue the show's producers for sexual and racial harassment. Amaani Lyle claims she was subjected to offensive comments while she worked on the show in 1999 but a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge dismissed the suit in 2002. Now, an appeals court has reinstated the lawsuit in part, ruling that there was no reason to warrant a dismissal. However, the appeals court panel refused to reinstate Lyle's claim she was fired because of her color and her sex.
- 4/26/2004
- WENN
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