Unfortunately, Maria Sharapova’s panties were not being honored Brett Favre style in court, instead they are at the center of a wrongful termination lawsuit.

The quick and dirty rundown of this case goes a little something like this, Steve Biegel was fired from a Japanese advertising agency named Dentsu Holdings after he noticed the CEO of the company, Toyo Shigeta, passing around photos such as the one seen below. Like any employee who complains about his CEO, Steve Biegel was fired for being a party pooper.

I’m not sure I can blame them, thats what Steve gets for being a wet blanket. What kind of country is it when men can’t pass around photos of Maria Sharapova’s vagina without facing ridicule?

….In case you hadn’t noticed by the name, Dentsu Holdings is an Asian company. I found this old article about Maria Sharapova appearing at the AIG Japan Open which attracted legions of camera carrying males who were there for the sole purpose of getting crotch shots. Most people are relatively aware of the subculture of going wacky over women’s panties in Japan, which paints this new story in a different light.

Yes, Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova was in town, and the chance of a peek at her panties was an opportunity many underwear aficionados were simply unable to resist. The finesse of the tennis star’s backhand or the power of her volley was irrelevant to the camera-carrying horde. Her underwear-revealing serve was all (and everything) they had come to see. One reporter even grumbled that, “when she served, everyone got ready to take photos of her panties. Nine out of ten of these guys were geeks whose cameras were aimed below the belt.”

So this CEO of Dentsu was simply adhering to cultural customs, let the man practice his culture! Let us honor the wise men of Japan…