Watercooler Stories

Sperm bank employee claims harassment

NEW YORK, May 23 (UPI) -- A New York employee of a prominent Los Angeles sperm bank claims in a lawsuit that his boss forced him to share a bed and attend cult-like seminars.

Scott Glasgow, the former marketing director for Growing Generations, claims in his $3 million suit against the company that he was fired in June 2007 after repeatedly rejecting sexual advances from the company's chief executive, the New York Post reported.

The suit says the firing followed his refusal to attend further "religious" seminars by a company called Landmark Education.

"I'm still trying to recover from it. It was a horrible thing to be in a job that you really cared about doing and not being able to do it effectively because of something like this," Glasgow said in the Post article.

Glasgow claims that during his tenure with the company, his boss repeatedly booked them joint rooms with only a single bed on business trips and sent him photos of himself in bondage gear, the newspaper report said.

Barbershop ticketed for opening on Monday

HOUMA, La., May 23 (UPI) -- A Houma, La., barbershop owner said he was shocked when police issued him a citation for opening his business on a Monday.

Clyde Scott, 32, said he was giving hair touch-ups to high school seniors hours before their Monday night graduation ceremony when a police officer entered his Clippas barbershop, handed him the ticket and informed him of a law barring barbershops from opening on Mondays, Houma Today reported.

"I was just open to cut those guys' hair," Scott said. "I do cut some Mondays or Sundays."

Houma Police spokesman Lt. Todd Duplantis said officer Michael Toups was instructed to write the ticket after authorities received several complaints of loitering outside the business. He said the aging ordinance was discovered by Sgt. Daniel Belanger.

"He instructed Michael Toups to issue the barbershop a summons for the ordinance," Duplantis said.

Parish Council Clerk Paul Labat said the law, which also bars barbershops from opening on Sundays and several holidays, is believed to predate the merger of the parish and city governments in 1981.

"It was probably on the books before 1979," Labat said. "It's still an active law."

Scott said he is consulting a lawyer about the ticket, which could cost him up to $500.

Woman's recovery a medical mystery

CHARLESTON, W.Va., May 23 (UPI) -- Doctors said a West Virginia woman who had no brain waves for more than 17 minutes is expected to make a full recovery, but they don't know why.

Val Thomas, 59, was taken off life support at a Charleston, W.Va., hospital after she suffered two heart attacks, her brain waves stopped and she was found to have no heartbeat or pulse, WEWS-TV, Cleveland, reported.

Rigor mortis had already set in, and doctors said Thomas was taken off life support with only a ventilator left in while organ donation issues were resolved.

"Her skin had already started to harden and her fingers curled. Death had set in," said the woman's son, Jim Thomas.

However, 10 minutes after she was taken off life support, Thomas woke up and began talking.

"She (a nurse) said, 'I'm so sorry Mrs. Thomas.' And mom said, 'That's OK honey. That's OK," Jim Thomas said.

Doctors said Thomas' recovery is a medical mystery, but Thomas said her escape from the clutches of death was the work of God, not science.

"I know God has something in store for me, another purpose. I don't know what it is but I'm sure he'll tell me," she said.

Couple sues neighbors on both sides

OCONOMOWOC, Wis., May 23 (UPI) -- An Oconomowoc, Wis., couple has filed lawsuits against neighbors on both sides of their home, claiming harassment by the homeowners.

Donald and Susanne Dysland claim in the suits, filed in Waukesha County Circuit Court, that neighbor Charles Stelter "intentionally shines spotlights" into their backyard and has a video camera pointed at their hot tub, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported.

The couple claims another neighbor, Ronald Borowski, shines spotlights into their bedroom at late hours and has built a retaining wall that encroaches onto their property.

The Dyslands claim those offenses have been aimed at reducing the value of their $441,700 property.

"We filed the lawsuit to stop the harassment, which has been occurring as detailed in the complaints, because the neighbors would not comply with repeated requests to stop doing so," said Robert Welcenbach, a lawyer for the Dyslands.