Posted on 12/22/2012 10:38:53 AM PST by Clint N. Suhks
IOWA CITY, Iowa — A dentist acted legally when he fired an assistant that he found attractive simply because he and his wife viewed the woman as a threat to their marriage, the all-male Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday.
The court ruled 7-0 that bosses can fire employees they see as an “irresistible attraction,” even if the employees have not engaged in flirtatious behavior or otherwise done anything wrong. Such firings may be unfair, but they are not unlawful discrimination under the Iowa Civil Rights Act because they are motivated by feelings and emotions, not gender, Justice Edward Mansfield wrote.
An attorney for Fort Dodge dentist James Knight said the decision, the first of its kind in Iowa, is a victory for family values because Knight fired Melissa Nelson in the interest of saving his marriage, not because she was a woman.
But Nelson’s attorney said Iowa’s all-male high court, one of only a handful in the nation, failed to recognize the discrimination that women see routinely in the workplace.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
See precedent for “Attractive Nuisance”.....i..e, a neighbor’s unfenced pool, unfenced trampoline, et al....
Not only did they turn a simple decision into mindless gobble-de-gook, they wasted a bunch of time an money doing it
You cannot force people to LIKE each other- we had one employee we hired because he looked good on paper, but he turned out to be a TOTAL JERK that everyone hated
We were a little surprised at the glowing reviews his previous employer gave him, when they knew he was interviewing with us
We fired his a$$ and he sued- but he was white so he lost
Why then did he hire her in the first place? (Wife not present at the time?)
Certainly goes a long way toward explaining why I lost so many jobs as a wild and handsome youth; the women just couldn’t resist me - one of the reasons I was too distracted to do my job and took so many unauthorized days off.
Just too darned good-looking.
Oddly, the kooks on the Iowa Supreme Court seem to recognize that employer-employee relationship is mutual and un-coerced. Just as one may quit for any reason, one may be let go for any reason. The employee can collect unemployment, as there is no allegation the employee acted improperly.
Your Honor, I’m not able to control ny Johnson. And my wife is jealous anyway. So can you save me the money from a lawsuit and make this woman just go away?
Thanks!
Alternatively, Your Honor, I hired this woman based on my sexual attraction to her, not her skills. It was my intent to hit her like the hammer of an angry God at every opportunity. But she rejected my advances. Since I can’t falt her work performance, well, I need help here. My wife wants hewr gone so what can I do?
No pictures - how can we make an informed judgement?
Affirmative Action for ugly people.
Uh oh. Obama’s attention whore sex pistols...
Call Sandra Fluke...y!!!!
Bill Clinton should’ve fired Monica Lewinsky. Hillary should fire Huma.
A very attractive young female showed up for job interview by me, and I thought the same thing, that she would be a big distraction with my all male subordinates. So, I did not offer her the job.
Went to the WP to see PICTURES of these incredible creatures...and all I saw was Big Bird.
Whadupwidat?
Despite this ruling, I suspect attractive females will still find more doors open to them than unattractive females.
Interesting thought: If they say it is OK to fire a woman because she is too good looking, wonder if they would also say it is OK to fire a woman because she is NOT good looking?
Well lets get it right. The Dentist’s wife made the Dentist fire the asst he was attracted to becuase she thought it endangered their marriage. :-)
Should be able to fire people in general.
The world didn’t end yesterday, it turned upside down. Before 12/21/12 bosses gave “irresistibly attractive” employees generous raises.
So what about the firing “for any reason” mantra so often expressed around here?
As a “lower-case” libertarian, I support firing for any reason. And yes, there are times when it might be completely unfair. But it’s not the govt’s job to make fair; the community, media, and market should handle that.
Fire away, statists.
frankly, I personally believe that by the foundational prinicipals in the Constitution “discrimination” on any grounds is allowed all of us in our private consensual affairs, including employment; it is only government and government institutions that cannot “discriminate” because the government is everyone’s government
we are entitled to our personal values and value systems in our private lives, but in government we are required to leave our personal prejudices at the door
leaving our prejudices at the door, when it comes to the government, means we cannot write our own prejudices into the law, and it also means the law cannot force us into personal associations our own values are not in agreement with
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