Readers Respond: Sitting down on the job

An article about recent court cases in California that have given employees the right to sue their employers for "suitable seating" led to several reader responses:

“People stand all day in factories and in retail stores doing their job. Giving good customer service demands that clerks walk the store looking to help people. If we give them chairs, customer service is gone. What are they going to do, sit there expecting people to look for them? We are in a very competitive retail environment today, and to stay in business it means [standing up] and working.”

— Don Boulter

General manager

Battels Hardware & Tool Co.

Whittier, Calif.

“We have store locations throughout the United States, including California. The state of California, and its laws, result in more lawsuits and legal fees for us than all others state combined. Prop. 65, VOC regulations, ZIP code class actions suits related to California Credit Card Act, and on and on.

“We are no longer adding stores in the state as a result of the added costs of doing business in California. The litigious state of California has not only crossed the point of overreaching parenting, but has set into motion a future business climate that will push companies to do as little as possible within the state. For a state that is all but bankrupt, they seem to be oblivious to the values that made this country great.”

— Anonymous 

“I think this is carrying it a bit too far.  If you want to sit down somewhere, you will find a place -- what’s next -- make sure you feed me, and cloth me?”

— Chris from Indiana