Detroit employee sues city over co-worker’s perfume
DETROIT - A Detroit planning department employee has sued the city because she claims a coworker’s strong fragrance prohibits her from working. Susan McBride’s lawsuit was filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Detroit. McBride claims she is severely sensitive to perfumes and other cosmetics. The lawsuit states the co-worker wore a strong scent and plugged in a scented room deodorizer which caused McBride to go home sick. The woman later agreed to stop using the room deodorizer but continued wearing perfume. The suit says her work environment violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. McBride is asking for a ban on such scents at work and unspecified damages.
This is the sort of thing that will provide comedians and late-night talk show hosts with all sort of material, and on it’s surface it IS silly. There’s more to this than you might realize, however, and for those of us with sensitivities to scents, it’s not laughing matter. Clearly, Ms. McBride’s case is an extreme one, but I can relate. I’m also fairly sensitive to perfumes, and strong perfumed scents will send me right over the edge- migraine symptoms, nausea, even dizziness in some extreme cases. For me, it’s directly related to my allergy to cigarette smoke, and it’s something I take seriously. Anyone who’s been around me when someone lights up will vouch for that. I can become VERY unpleasant, very quickly. Strong perfume may be more aesthetically pleasing, but it’s no less irritating to me.
To some this may seem a silly and perhaps even petty complaint, but to those of us sensitive to strong odors, it’s no small thing. Trust me, if you light up around me, you’re NOT going to like me. I’m generally a rather laissez-faire personality- until you decide it’s time for a cigarette and I’m in the vicinity.
The next time you read a story about this sort of thing, or if someone you know happens to complain about strong odors or scents. try and remember that for some of us this is no small concern. I don’t know why certain scents and odors send me over the edge, but there you have it. Cut us some slack, ‘kay?
