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IA Supreme Court: Workers can be fired if boss considers them “irresistible attraction”

Iowa Supreme Court

DES MOINES – The Iowa Supreme court ruled on Friday that a male dentist was not at fault for firing a woman that was too attractive and a possible threat to the man’s marriage.

In reaching its decision, the court considered the question: “Can a male employer terminate a female employee because the employer’s wife, due to no fault of the employee, is concerned about the nature of the relationship between the employer and the employee?”

Put another way, the court considered “whether an employee who has not engaged in flirtatious conduct may be lawfully terminated simply because the boss views the employee as an irresistible attraction.”

The court threw out a discrimination lawsuit filed by Melissa Nelson, who worked for James Knight, DDS, of Fort Dodge.

The court brief indicated that “During the last six months or so of Nelson’s employment, Dr. Knight and Nelson started texting each other on both work and personal matters outside the workplace. Neither objected to the other’s texting. Both Dr. Knight and Nelson have children, and some of the texts involved updates on the kids’ activities and other relatively innocuous matters. Nelson considered Dr. Knight to be a friend and father figure, and she denies that she ever flirted with him or sought an intimate or sexual relationship with him.”

Later, after finding out about the texting, Dr. Knight’s wife “demanded that he terminate Nelson’s employment.”

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