Aug 19, 2011

No Comments

Tweet

Friday Diversion #3: The Old “Too Ugly” Defense…

Today’s Friday. And that means I put up a link to an employment-related news story that borders on the ridiculous.

This week’s gem is a sexual harassment suit1 brought by a former employee of a real estate company in NYC. The 23-year-old woman is alleging that at least 7 different male employees physically and emotionally harassed her, including exposing themselves and offering her $500 to watch her get busy with her girlfriend.

That, in and of itself, of course, is not newsworthy for an L&E blog. What makes this our Friday diversion is the stellar legal maneuvering of Odelia Berlianshik, owner of People’s Choice Realty.2 After making the always-bright decision to talk to nationally-recognized news outlets without being prepped by your lawyer (I hope, at least), Berlianshik defended the company by pointing out that no one would want to touch the former employee, because she’s too ugly.

Seriously.

Most of the time I try to pull some lesson from these stories. This time, the only thing I could think of is don’t tell a newspaper that the former employee/sexual harassment plaintiff they’re calling you about is lying… because she’s unattractive. For what it’s worth.

Found the story on Gothamist, which will take you to NYDN if you want the details.

1. I know its always sexual harassment. Sorry. You try and find a goofy story about the FLSA. [↩]
2. Which, I assume, hands out those awards every year. Could be wrong, though. I dont watch a lot of TV. [↩]