Former flight attendant sues Oprah over sex claim

[onehandle]

Source: Reuters

Oprah Winfrey has had pretty good luck in litigation during her career.

Back in 1998 she won a Texas defamation case brought by cattlemen who weren't thrilled when she said she'd sworn off burgers on a show about mad cow disease. This year she beat back a trillion-dollar lawsuit by a poet who claimed copyright infringement, and she recently filed an aggressive suit against marketers who claimed she put her stamp of approval on dietary supplements.

Now, a former flight attendant on Winfrey's private jet says she was fired after being accused of having sex during a flight in June, and she's filed a federal lawsuit against Winfrey's production company denying the allegations.

Corrine Gehrls alleges that flight attendant Myron Gooch and Winfrey's goddaughter, Kirby Bumpus, made false and defamatory accusations that led to her dismissal.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091012/people_nm/us_oprah_1

[Sanity Claws]

1. So?

If this is at-will employment, as is usually the case, the employer can fire even if the reason is wrong. The employer just can't fire for an illegal reason. That means Oprah should get out on summary judgment.

[wolfgangmo]

3. A slight correction

An employer can fire for ANY reason in a "right to work" state (right to work = euphemism for right to fire).

They can hand you a loaded gun and tell you to shoot someone and if you refused on the grounds that shotting people is illegal, they could fire you. They could demand that you drop your pants, bend over, and take it like a man and if you refused because you don't want to be cornholed today, thank you very much, they could fire you. That they could be charged with conspiracy to murder/conspiracy to cornhole is irrelevant. You would still be fired and would have no recourse regarding your job.

This is another republican/reagan legacy; the right to work legislation. Ain't America swell.

[Sanity Claws]

5. I'm afraid you're confused about the meaning of "right to work"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-to-work_law is a link defining right to work. It's essentially an anti-union statute.

At-will employment is the general rule on employment in the US, whether in a right to work state or not.

[TheCoxwain]

2. What - Fired for joining the mile-high club?

Totally unacceptable

[rvablue]

4. Why would she file in federal court?

Weird.

[The Animator]

6. Maybe it depends on what state she was flying over at the time of the incident...

Do labor law juristictions apply to airspace?

[david13]

7. Wow I love all the self appointed lawyers in this case.

You know, Oprah (I think) can afford a real lawyer. And will probably get a good one (or firm). Folks, reading a paragraph somewhere does not a lawyer make you. I think you would have to go to a ... ah, what's that thing, ... oh yeah, a school?
It's a real disappointment to see that type of thing on this forum.
dc