SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court threw out a sexual harassment lawsuit against the makers of the hit comedy "Friends" on Thursday, ruling that vulgar and coarse comments by the show's writers reflected the "creative workplace" for a comedy with sexual themes.
In ruling unanimously for Warner Bros. Television Productions, the state high court said the show's writers did not direct their lewd comments at the woman who sued them or at women particularly.
State law "does not outlaw sexually coarse and vulgar language or conduct that merely offends," Justice Marvin R. Baxter wrote for the court.
Baxter said the court based its decision "on the totality of the undisputed circumstances, particularly the fact the 'Friends' production was a creative workplace focused on generating scripts for an adult-oriented comedy show featuring sexual themes."
Amaani Lyle, who was fired in 1999 after working for four months as a writers' assistant for "Friends," charged in her lawsuit that the show's male writers spoke graphically about their sexual preferences and experiences.
She said they mused about sexual matters involving actors Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox Arquette and David Schwimmer and simulated masturbating. One drew breasts and vaginas in a coloring book, and the three referred to some women with a four-letter vulgar word for the female anatomy, Lyle charged.
The writers said that their behavior occurred while working on a show that dealt with sexual material. In a statement after the decision, the writers -- Adam Chase, Gregory Malins and Andrew Reich -- said they were encouraged by the court's "staunch support of creative freedoms for writers everywhere."
"We maintain, as we have since Day 1 in this case, that the majority of the allegations the plaintiff made against us are complete and total fabrications," the writers said in a statement released by their lawyer.
Jeffrey K. Winikow, who represented a group of employment lawyers, called the ruling "indifferent toward the demeaning stereotypes of women in an industry that is overwhelmingly dominated by young, white men." Sexually abusive behavior by scriptwriters "will continue to create this atmosphere where a woman really has to desensitize herself to all forms of misogyny to succeed in that business," Winikow said.
But he said the ruling also "shouldn't give any comfort to television producers in Los Angeles" because it was based largely on the fact that the writers were producing scripts for a show about sexual situations.
