Not a bad days work...

From Media Guardian.

A disc jockey with a severe allergy to perfume who claims a rival at the country music station where she worked intentionally exposed her to cheap scent has been awarded $10.6m (?5.78m) by a jury.

Erin Weber, who presented a popular midday show, claimed in a lawsuit she was fired by WYCD-FM in Michigan after complaining about being exposed to a $45 perfume worn by Linda Lee, a DJ on the station's afternoon programme.

Ms Weber, 43, claimed she was made sick by the fumes, a condition that began when another colleague spilled nail polish in the studio in 1999, causing her to suffer chemical burns to her airways, swelling of the vocal cords, difficulty breathing and laryngitis.

Doctors warned of her "severe allergy" to Lanc?me's Tr?sor perfume - described by the makers as "romantic, sensual, emotional" - saying further exposure could risk "the possibility of death".

She said the perfume caused her to lose her voice and on one occasion "felt an electric shock ... through my entire body".

The station said that after Ms Weber complained it asked Ms Lee to stop wearing perfume and changed the presenters' shift schedules so they did not come into contact with each other.

But, according to a report in the Detroit News, in an email in May 2001 to the station manager, presented as evidence at the trial, Ms Weber said Ms Lee intentionally walked past her at a local country music festival. "Linda nearly brushed past me and a cloud of perfume trailed behind me," she wrote.

"To have brought the perfume with her suggests forward planning. This appears to be a premeditated attack which was entirely unprovoked by me in any way ... Please tell me what steps you intend to take to ensure my safety."

Ms Weber, who had worked in radio for 26 years, took three months off for medical reasons in late 2000 and filed a discrimination suit against the station in 2001. The station retaliated, she said, by taking away an endorsement deal, removing her email account and assigning her to a new shift.

She was fired in September 2001. The station claims that it was for not coming to work.

A jury deliberated for eight days before awarding Ms Weber $1.6m compensation, $7m in punitive damages and $2m for anguish and distress.

The radio station said it planned to appeal.

Posted By: Jim Nasium on May 26th 2005 at 12:21:24

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