Cornithaca County

The Fox and the Grapes

One hot summer's day a Fox was strolling through an orchard till he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained over a lofty branch. "Just the thing to quench my thirst," quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success. Again and again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with a snarl, saying: "I’ll teach him to put something I want out of reach." The fox brought a suit against the owner, arguing that his not being able to reach the fruit was substantially limiting compared to an average person in the general population. He won the case. The owner of the orchard was ordered to cut down the trees and train the vines to a height that the fox could reach. He went out of business. Moral: You can use “fairness” laws to demand an unfair outcome.