The sitcom "Friends" had an enormous impact on popular culture for the ten years that it was on the air. A sexual harassment case that is pending in the California Supreme Court could have similarly enormous impact on the law and the workplace. Amaani Lyle was hired in 1999 as a writers' assistant on "Friends". Her job was to take notes at brainstorming meetings. She was fired after four months on the job for not typing fast enough to capture the story ideas. She claims that while she was employed, she was a "captive witness" to vulgar and offensive discussions that were part of the show's writers' brainstorming routines to come up with plot ideas. Three male writers allegedly joked about their own sexual experiences in graphic detail with Lyle in the room taking notes. They also discussed things like oral sex, joked about Courtney-Cox's inability to conceive a child, and called women who displeased them "bitches." Lyle's case has been in litigation for four years. Warner Brothers, which produced "Friends", says that the writers were only engaging in the creative process and since the allegedly offensive language was not directed at her, she has no case. The studio, however, lost the litigation in April 2004 when the appeals court ruled that there was "sufficient evidence" that there was a hostile or offensive work environment for a woman in the writers' room. Adam Levin, a Warner's attorney says that any workplace discussion that is sexual in nature could become liable to a "hostile environment" claim. The case has attracted nationwide interest and debate. Catherine McKinnon, a law professor who pioneered the recognition of sexual harassment as a valid legal claim said "at stake is nothing less than whether the pervasive pornographization of women will be permitted to destroy the law against harassment at work." The writers do not take contention with the facts of Lyle's allegations. At stake is what is called untargeted speech, or the freewheeling conversations that often helped to spark a story plot line for the writers. Jennifer Drobac, a law professor at Indiana University says that the Fair Employment and Housing Act needs to be applied keeping in mind the context and common sense. In other words, the context of the workplace needs to be considered. Employers should have procedures in place to review employee complaints to help them to avoid unnecessary litigation. The creative community wants jurors and employers to stay out of the writers' brainstorming sessions. They believe their creativity is at stake.