The Daily BuzzIowa rules it’s okay to fire an irresistibly attractive employee
Looking good has become a job hazard in Iowa.
The state's Supreme Court ruled in favour of a dentist who fired his assistant because he couldn't stand how hot she was, apparently.
The court answers the question of "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," according to the ruling.
The court ruled that yes, a male boss can legally fire a woman because she's attractive, even though it's probably not fair. The justices on the court were all men.
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The court ruling says Dr. James Knight hired a 20-year-old dental assistant named Melissa Nelson in 1999. She was good at her job but several years later he started to complain that her clothes were too tight. He said they were 'distracting.'
Knight and Nelson began texting each other outside of work. According to the document, Knight admitted he had made sexual comments regarding her clothes.
When Nelson made a comment about infrequent sex, her boss reportedly said, “That’s like having a Lamborghini in the garage and never driving it.”
Eventually Knight's wife demanded he fire his good-looking employee. So he did, and then he spoke to Melissa Nelson's husband.
"Dr. Knight told Steve Nelson that nothing was going on but that he feared he would try to have an affair with her down the road if he did not fire her," the document says.
Nelson sued the dentist on the grounds that she was fired for nothing other than 'existing as a female.' Looks like she'll have to work on that.
No word on how Knight's marriage is holding up now that a court has revealed he has a thing for dental assistants.
(Reuters photo)
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