Ah, the American reputation for over-litigating everything rears its head. [Hifumi at least sounds more amused than disapproving.]

I suspect it may be a cross-cultural miscommunication. God knows those are common enough between different cultures on the same planet, and now these people have several cultures' worth of new arrivals. It may simply have not occurred to them that we're not as used to casual contact, or exposure to substances that encourage casual contact, as they are.

That isn't to say the point's not worth raising, and if nothing else, now we can warn anyone else who might follow in our footsteps.