OFF-TOPIC question about an office thing

[Jane Credland]

Quoting James Jones <doc-x at earthlink.net>:

>   My long-term girlfriend works as a manager in an office of a foundation
> and a co-worker of lower rank has been complaining that her (my
> girlfriend's) perfume makes her sick or nauseated. My girlfriend does not
> wear heavy perfume. You can hardly tell that she's wearing any perfume at
> all. Her perfume does not cause complaints from anyone else. 
>   Is this kind of thing an issue in offices? Thanks for your wisdom.

Maybe it's more common in Northern California than elsewhere, I don't know. Lots
of places around here have a "no perfume" policy in effect. More and more people
are having problems with environmental illnesses that include allergies to
perfume and other artificial scents.

As for your girlfriend's perfume, if her coworker is allergic to it, then it
doesn't matter how heavy it is or isn't.  The presence of her perfume can be
enough to make her coworker sick. 

Then again, I live with someone who sometimes has to hold her breath in
elevators and who can have an asthma attack triggered by someone walking past
with the wrong kind of perfume. 

Jane