Did anorexia get accountant canned from Rachael Ray’s daytime show?

It seems that Aaron Ferguson, who served as an accountant for the Rachael Ray TV show, says in his filing in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court, that he’s suffered with anorexia for about six years. In the filing, Ferguson says he was fired for complaining about comments made by a supervisor, and because he was fired, as well as the harassment, he’s suing for a cool $1 million.

Ferguson says his supervisor repeatedly exhibited “hostile behavior” and made “vile,” discriminatory, and hurtful comments regarding his anorexia, including saying things such as, “Anorexics are sick in the head,” and, “Anorexics should not be able to work,” according to his filing.

William H. Kaiser, Ferguson’s attorney, said the firing was retaliation.

Ferguson says he repeatedly complained about discriminatory language regarding anorexics — including in front of Ferguson instead of behind his back — and used discriminatory language regarding anorexics. In his filing, Ferguson says those with authority over his supervisor did nothing to improved his situation.

CBS Television Distributions Inc., a CBS Corp. unit, is the producer and owner of the Rachael Ray show.

Kaiser says Ferguson “was punished for complaining.”

Continuing, Kaiser said, “The things that were said in front of my client were hurtful, and once they knew he had a problem with it, they should have stopped.”

This is very interesting. Let’s see, airlines and doctors can look at someone, and based on a person’s girth, make impolite comments that could result in a fist landing on someone’s jaw if it were said in a bar, in a workplace, or elsewhere. Why? Because the person is overweight, obese, or, in plain English, fat. I guess it’s only fat people who are the only group of people that others may declare open season upon without retribution. If you insult a gay or lesbian, well, be prepared for a lawsuit, as well as protests.

Now, because Aaron Ferguson didn’t like that someone said things about anorexia — much like people say things about most every other health condition, including, at times, cancer — and he didn’t like it. Poor Aaron Ferguson. He’s was dealing with anorexia and working for a cooking show. How ironic. How humorous. Sheesh, talk about fodder for great jokes on the Late Show!

I help a lot of people on any given day — in email, on the phone, in email discussion groups, and in IM — deal with health issues and all the societal ignorance that goes along with it in daily life. Some of the people are overweight or obese — fat, let’s say — and they must tolerate the fat jokes, as well. Why? Because, well, did they eat themselves into what became a barrel of jelly? Obviously, just look at them! Two ton blobs walking down the street, looking like a giant Weeble.

Yeah, that’s reality. That’s some of the stuff they hear. On top of that garbage, though, they also have to deal with the comments that come from ignorant people who want to insult these people even further, blasting at the mouth, hurling insults and self-appointed medical knowledge about the person’s health, yet knowing nothing about these people.

What kind of recourse do fat people have? Not much, it seems, especially if you look at some past lawsuits that fell flat on their face. One person I know, who was suing a company because of wrongful termination, committed suicide. The reason for ending life: Because the line of questioning during a deposition. It all focused on the food the person ate, not the quantity or anything else. “Are you known to eat donuts? Yes or no.”

It doesn’t matter what kind of diet you’re on, as any nutritionist or physician will tell you. It’s what you eat, how you eat, how much you eat, and, back to the cornerstone: All things in moderation. Can a fat person eat a donut as part of a diet? Absolutely, just like a skinny person can eat a donut as part of a diet.

Unless I am mistaken, Aaron Ferguson lives in the United States. Here in the U.S., especially since Friday was the Fourth of July, a national holiday to commemorate our national independence at the cost of a lot of spilled blood of U.S. troops, there’s a funky document called the Constitution of the United States, and then there is it’s partner document, the Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the one many people love to cite for a variety of reasons — but only when it’s to their advantage — says we, as citizens of the United States, have the right to freedom of speech. Whoa. It says nothing about “freedom from hearing things you don’t like.” No, that would be censorship, dear chap. If you wish to live in a self-censored society, might I suggest Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, North Korea, and a variety of other nations.

In the United States, though, if you wish to have the right to free speech, it means you will hear things that you don’t like. Go cry until the cows come home. That’s the way it is. Aaron Ferguson — a male anorexic — says people made fun of the anorexia. Guess what, Mr. Aaron Ferguson? I make fun of every single “top model” and almost every woman that models and is on television. Why? Because they are nothing but a sack of bones, and if you dumped any one of those women into a pot of soap, there wouldn’t be enough meat on their bones to even add the same amount of flavoring to the soup as a beef bone would add.

It seems Mr. Ferguson never learned to get along in the sandbox as a kid. Now, in real life, he grabs his toys, runs from the sandbox, and wants to sue over words. Perhaps he’d do much better to learn an adage most children learn by age five:

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

Wahhhh! You hurt my feelings. Big deal. Learn who you are — inside. Figure out your value as a person. If someone says something insulting to you, either learn some comebacks to put them in their place, block them out — even use an MP3 player! — and move on with it. If they continue, leave the place. Suing only does one thing: shows everyone else you can’t play in the sandbox with the other children.