Dumb Blonde Jokes Get Taken To Court

Yesterday's Independent newspaper writes on page 3 about Mark Lowe, a high-powered hedge-fund manager who's got himself in to a spot of bother with a colleague for sending jokes around the office about dumb blondes.

It seems that Jordan Wimmer, quite a pretty 29 year old blonde, has got a bit upset because of e-mails that suggest the best way to find out which one loves you more, your wife or your dog, is to put them both in the boot of the car for an hour and see which one's really pleased to see you when you let them back out.

I think that's quite funny.  And so does my wife, who also happens to be blonde.

Unfortunately for Mark Lowe, however, Ms Wimmer doesn't.  And because of that, she's taken him to court.

Now, I don't agree with sexual harassment in any form.  Touching a female work colleague inappropriately, no matter how invincible you feel or how much she might have wiggled her booty at you, is definitely going to land you in a spot of bother.  As is making lewd comments directly to that individual, or making an illicit pass in the hopes that your wife won't find out.

And suggesting that, in return for a few sexual favours, the promotional ladder might be a bit of an easier climb is clearly going to land you in court with your pants down and your wallet severely lightened.

But sending out e-mails that state a Ferrari is cheaper to run than a woman is not really reason to take somebody to court for a gargantuan sum of money.  And doing so, one can only presume, sort of proves the point of the joke...

Blonde jokes are part and parcel of daily life.  People might not always agree with them or find them funny, but they go hand-in-hand with jokes about Essex girls, Y-shaped  coffins and the roof-lining of a Ford Capri.  Forget the blondes for a second: show me somebody who hasn't laughed at an Englishman, Irishman and Scotsman joke.

Politically correct they might not be, but I'm reasonably certain that the Australians have some pretty mean jokes about the Brits.  And "Sheilas", too...

Mark Lowe has built up a £100m fortune through his business.  He might be a thoroughly loathsome individual with a predilection for peculiar sexual tastes for all I know, or he could be a jolly decent chap who likes to stand in a pub, quaff bitter and make merry with his friends.

I don’t know him, but it does appear that working for him hasn't done Jordan Wimmer any harm.  According to the newspaper, she started out on a basic salary of £50'000 and, by the time she got a bit disgruntled with Lowe's jokes, she was earning in the region of £577'000.

Mark Lowe will probably lose, of course, because that's the way these things work, and these jokes can be described as "objectifying women", something courts frown upon.  But one can't help thinking that Ms Wimmer could be likened to another of his jokes, one that describes women as a hazardous material that reacts well to gold and precious metals.

After all, she is suing him for four million pounds...