Their Own Petard

Fans of activist litigation discover the other guy can sue too.

Walter Olson from the January 1998 issue

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The Paula Jones case, as is only too well known, has likewise served to direct the attention of some Clintonites to the problem of how easy we make it to sue nowadays in this country. A less-publicized case, which has the further merit of being a lot easier to discuss in polite company, is the burgeoning controversy dubbed Chefgate. According to a recent Washington Times report, the White House quietly paid $37,000 to former executive chef Pierre Chambrin after ousting him in 1994 to make way for an American cook, in exchange for his pledge to refrain "from discussions with members of the press about his resignation."

But Chambrin was later called as a witness in a lawsuit by a lower-ranking chef who is suing the White House in a discrimination case, and wound up answering questions under oath about why he had been forced out earlier. "I think the reason they didn't want me again is because, even if I [have] been an American since 1977, I didn't fit the profile of the chef of the White House because of my accent and the fact that I'm overweight," said Chambrin, testifying in what the Times called "broken English."

Of course federal anti-discrimination law, with the enthusiastic support of the Clinton administration, has in recent years expanded to include as protected categories both obesity and accent. Maybe the Clintonites should worry about being served confit de petard.