According to a recent article in Law.com, a Pennsylvania federal judge has ruled that a company did not commit sexual harassment or retaliation against a female employee when she was fired for refusing to get coffee for the men in her office.

The woman alleged that her office was sexist, primarily because she was complimented on her appearance, invited to lunch and asked to get coffee for her male supervisors.

The court dismissed the case, concluding that “the act of getting coffee is not, by itself, a gender-specific act.” The court concluded there was no evidence of gender bias because the coffee-getting job had always been assigned to the receptionist position, even though only women had ever held the receptionist job at the company.

The former employee’s lawyer said they will appeal the decision because the federal judge erred by not recognizing that some tasks are “inherently more offensive to women.” This may sound like an odd case, but the emotions underlying it on both sides are obviously real and can lead to expensive employment law battles like this one.

My own approach to this kind of workplace problem is twofold and rather practical: I don’t drink coffee…and when I need a Dr. Pepper, I get it myself.