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Could Data have filed a complaint against Pulaski for racism? It seemed like she just hated machines...

It would be like Riker constantly saying Worf was incapable of abstract thought because he is a Klingon.

During TNG there was the whole issue of whether or not machines could be considered alive. I remember an episode where there was this trial or whatever, which ruled that Data was alive and could make choices. Was this before or after that episode?

That episode was called The Measure of a Man and was Episode 9 of Season 2. I can't recall if she made any idiotic comments beyond that episode.

Also, I am not only referring to one episode. There were several episodes where she made those types of comments. The Child, Where Silence Has Lease, and Elementary, Dear Data are all examples of this. However, all of these took place before 'The Measure of a Man'. I am going to have to scan through all of the Pulaski episodes that take place after that.

Be that as it may but isn't it strange that the question whether Data is alive or not is asked "after" he graduated from starfleet acadamy and became an officer where he would be in an position to give orders to beeings considered alive?

As to the OP, I don't think Pulaski did or said anything that would cause a detrimental effect on Data's ability to perform his duties... and since he himself professed to have no feelings to be hurt, there wouldn't really be much grounds for legal action. Unfortunately, it's still not illegal in the 24th century for people to act like asses.

yeah. She was an asshole... but stayed within the boundaries.

Makes McCoy at his worst seem almost pleasant.

If he were of a mind, I'm sure he could have indeed protested. But, as he's the second officer of the ship, the only ones he could complain too would be Picard or Riker. He COULD have ordered her to shut her trap himself as the ships 2nd Officer, if it really bothered him. However, as he has no feelings himself at that point, it didn't.

Had she said or done something while on duty like Data's XO on the Sutherland (his name escapes me), I'm sure he would have given her a similar verbal smackdown.

It's quite possible that he just wasn't overly bothered by her. Or perhaps he realised that protesting may just open up a whole different can of worms. Undoubtedly if he made a formal complaint about her actions, there'd be an inquiry to see whether or not a dislike of machines is equivelant to racism. He may simply have not been interested in getting into the centre of such an incident.

Exactly. Data had no emotion chip at that time, he just wouldn't have cared enough to do much. One of the key components of harassment is that the recipient is made to feel a certain way; this wasn't the case with Data.

They were obviously trying to make Pulaski and Data into a McCoy/Spock pairing, but Pulaski just came across as mean.

Hmmm. Could McCoy have been charged with racist behaviour?

No more so than Spock. Sure, McCoy tended to use more colorful language, but Spock denigrated humanity as much as McCoy denigrated... er, Vulcanity.

With Bones, he got as good as he gave. And there was genuine respect between the two, as well.

Well Data wouldn't have claimed it, it wasn't in his character. Moreover, most of the negative interaction between Data/Pulaski came before "The Measure of a Man" so it wouldn't have led to anything more than a "Be nicer, Doctor," scolding.

Bryan Moore wrote:Well Data wouldn't have claimed it, it wasn't in his character. Moreover, most of the negative interaction between Data/Pulaski came before "The Measure of a Man" so it wouldn't have led to anything more than a "Be nicer, Doctor," scolding.

Would it have? He was her superior officer, he did outrank her. Surely he could have gotten her written up for disrepecting a superior, if he had choosen to.

And does anyone else think it's odd that Data was 3rd in command of the ship, and as yet not actually verified as an individual with full rights and not just a piece of SF equipment?

Yeah, he'd been in SF for some 20 years at that point. Why the hell wasn't this addressed when he signed up?