A Fraser woman is suing propeller-maker Norco, claiming she was wrongly dismissed because a company-assigned joke made a co-worker seriously ill.
To boost morale, Norco holds a monthly “Fun Friday” in which ten employees are assigned to employ novelty items on their colleagues –dribble glasses, joy buzzers, etc. According to the event’s mission statement: “The goal is to promote the concept of “workplace fun” by partaking in hilarious office antics.”
On May 10, Judy Willington was assigned the whoopee cushion.
“She took her assignment seriously,” says her attorney, John Palmer. “She screened and selected her candidates and set about sliding the device onto their chairs.”
Things went well with the first three, each of whom jumped up in shock but laughed in the end. The fourth, however – a 62 year old male with hypertension – began gasping and wheezing, then collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital.
“We believe it was the responsibility of Ms. Willington to ascertain that he was an unsuitable candidate for a whoopee cushion prank,” says Sylvia Pitts, Norco’s VP of Human Resources.
In addition to dismissing Ms. Willington, the company is asking that she be held responsible for the victim’s medical costs – which include treatment from a psychiatrist for his fear of sitting down.
