First they came for Rachel, but because I did not watch Friends , I said nothing. Then they came for Stan and Cartman...

An Editorial against political correctness from the Dallas Morning News.

Heard this joke?

Q: How many feminists does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: That's not funny!

That wisecrack comes at the expense of a segment of society some have accused – let us step gingerly here – of being humor-challenged. Like all jokes, it's based on a stereotype, one easily disproved by spending five minutes listening to women like former Gov. Ann Richards. We can't say for sure, but we're betting that the good governor would be just as annoyed at Amaani Lyle as we are.

Ms. Lyle is a former scriptwriters' assistant for the sitcom Friends . Her job involved sitting in on writers' story meetings and taking notes of their conversations. When they canned Ms. Lyle because she couldn't type fast enough, she ended up suing her former employers for – wait for it – sexual harassment.

It seems that writers for a television comedy about sexually active characters exchanged lewd banter in the creative process. Imagine that.

Ms. Lyle claims to have found this unbearable – and a state appeals court, in reinstating her dismissed lawsuit, agreed with her. "A woman may be the victim of sexual harassment if she is forced to work in an atmosphere of hostility or degradation of her gender," the appeals court ruled, saying that she has a case if her "emotional tranquility in the workplace" is disturbed.

The court said that the Friends writers have to prove they had no alternative to these "sexual brainstorming sessions" in order to do their job. In the appeals court's view, the words that upended the "emotional tranquility" of a woman who chose to work on a sexually oriented sitcom are no different from actions.

This is a joke, but it's not funny. All civil libertarians – heck, everybody who likes comedy – should hope the California Supreme Court tosses this lawsuit on the politically correct trash heap. A victory for Ms. Lyle would have an incalculable chilling effect on creativity, particularly on comedy writing, which thrives in an atmosphere where there are no taboos. Do we really want to live in a world in which provoking laughter could put you on the wrong side of the law?