How to Handle the Co-Worker you can’t Febreeze
March 18th, 2010. By AbiK
Remember the one about the airline passenger that was booted off a Jazz Air flight because he smelled?
Hey, don’t underestimate that ol’ olfactory system. Think I’m kidding? One woman’s sense of smell just netted her a $100,000 settlement. How? As a Detroit city employee, Susan McBride had complained about a co-worker’s perfume and room deodorizer (must’ve been into fragrance layering)—that the smell of them made it difficult for her to breathe. She also complained of migraine headaches, nausea and coughing.
From a report on The Early Show (CBS), it seems McBride’s boss didn’t respond to her complaints, and apparently didn’t tell the co-worker with the love of all things aromatic that there was a teensy little issue that, quite frankly, she stunk and it was unbearable.
So, McBride sued.
Here’s the kicker—Detroit city employees in three buildings (yes, three!) are now being warned not to wear anything that delivers a scent—no top notes of jasmine, no undertones of sandalwood, skip the tea rose-scented potpourri, the eponymous Tim McGraw cologne, the Glade plug-ins, and by all means, leave the Red Door at the door. The Early Show report also mentions folks should leave behind the deodorant, though if you’re flying Jazz Air you may want to pack a travel size somewhere—just in case.
Seems the question here comes down to a question of rights. And, as labor and employment lawyer Joelle Sharman is quoted as saying on The Early Show, “A person doesn’t necessarily have a right to wear perfume, but the person does have a right to be able to breathe in the workplace. So if an employee comes into work and says to his or her boss, “I can’t breathe, this perfume is triggering a condition that is affecting my ability to breathe in the workplace,” and reports to his or her boss, the boss has to reasonably accommodate that person.”
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