Expensive Boar’s Teeth Prank Backed by High Court

Here’s the story:

A dentist’s assistant has pot-bellied pigs for pets and she talks about them at work.  One day, she has dental surgery performed on her at the office she works in.  During the procedure, the dentist puts a bridge made to look like boar’s teeth in her mouth, and snaps a few photos.  The photos make it around the office and the assistant feels humiliated.

So, rather than do what I would do, i.e. plan an even more elaborate prank to embarrass the boss, she sues.  The dentist,  Dr. Robert Woo, settles out of court for a quarter of a million dollars when his insurance tell him they are not going to cover his jackass stunt.

Here’s what I don’t understand.  Woo then turns to his insurance company and ask for three quarters of a million for his prank.

What I understand less is that the Supreme Court says, “Uh, yeah.  That sounds about right.  Cough up the money.”

In a sprightly 5-4 decision, Supreme Court Justice Mary Fairhurst wrote that Woo’s practical joke was an integral, if odd, part of the assistant’s dental surgery and “conceivably” should trigger the professional liability coverage of his policy.

I am at a loss for words.