This is true, but some of the expected fees are 'soft', and should not force the sender to include them. If the fee is not paid on a low priority transaction, then the transaction is simply ignored by the miners until it's old enough that it's priority is above the minimum. I've done this many times when not under time pressure. This fee must be required by his client for some reason.
Again, the main bitcoin.org client imposes a transaction fee (currently 0.0005 BTC) based on the type of transaction (see above). You can recompile the code to make your version of the client have zero fee, if you choose (your milage may vary).
Change, in main.h:
static const int64 MIN_TX_FEE = 50000;
To:
static const int64 MIN_TX_FEE = 0;
The reason is improved acceptance of the client / concept of Bitcoins, not because it's required. If you don't want to include a fee on a transaction and you're willing to wait, then use a client that doesn't enforce a fee.
My current version of the official client (under OSX) will allow me to set the transaction fee to 0.00. However, I believe if I tried to turn-around and send coins I had just received, and was sending a sufficiently small amount, it would deny the transaction without the fee (though I haven't tested this). Another client may accept it.