Surely there could have been a negotiated solution here. Perhaps she could have worn a hijab, then he might have been able to keep his impulses under control (and his wife happy). Apparently that works well in other parts of the world. Plus the pastor said it's ok, so it's sort of like a fatwa.

I'm usually all for businesses being able to keep/fire people as needed and not get shafted by regulations. I certainly don't get any protections in my job. But that should be based on professional considerations (yes, which can include how you dress), not some idiot's inability to keep his fucking dick in his pants around an attractive co-worker. "If my pants are bulging..." Please. What a prick.

> why any business should be forced by the
> government to keep on an employee who is
> wrong for them in some way.

Let's say you hire a black guy and it turns out all your customers are racist.

"Let's say you hire a black guy and it turns out all your customers are racist."

Black racists or white racists?

It matters?

Not if they all despise Esquimos equally, I suppose.

Knight’s lawyer, Stuart Cochrane, said the ruling is a home-run for family values.
Whose family? Melissa Nelson's family?
Have some perspective, please...she was FIRED because her boss was sexually attracted to her. She didn't make comments about his pants, or her sex life, HE did. And I was unaware that scrubs were 'tight fitting' clothes.
But, hey, he's the boss, so it's all good.

Haven't you heard Crid? Some (sorta) black guy got elected President and healed the world. There ain't no racism anymore.

I thought this line was even better DrCos

He later told Nelson’s husband that he worried he was getting too personally attached and feared he would eventually try to start an affair with her.

Translation - he wanted to already, was pretty certain she would turn him down, hoped to talk her round in time, but now his wife had found out so it's ass-covering time.

" the decision, the first of its kind in Iowa, is a victory for family values"

Lets make laws based on family values!

Porn is bad (hey the iPad is great for watching pr0n, at least in my experience).

Gays are icky.

Pre-martial sex is a sin (my favorite kind of sin besides worshipping false idols).

Nipples=the pink evil

And finally masturbation. Hell you are not even touching someone else,. But that's evil too. Because God is watching YOU jack off and that grosses him out. You need to stop shitting too, because THAT really grosses him out.

@Ltw:

> I'm usually all for businesses being able to keep/fire people as needed ... But that should be based on professional considerations

Says who?

My company is my property just like my table saw is. If I want to bore a hole in my tablesaw's extension table because it helps make my life better (by, say, allowing me to mount a router there), then it's my property to do with as I see fit.

If I want to lay off one employee in my company and hire another (because, say, it will make my marriage better), then it's my property to do with as I see fit.

I advise folks to start a company or two and run them for five or ten years...especially in a government-created Great Depression 2.0.

The idea that companies run themselves, or exist as vehicles to create and distribute social welfare are the first things that will be beaten out of you by the experience.

@DrCos:

> But, hey, he's the boss, so it's all good.

Close, but not quite. It's

"But, hey, he's the one who created and owns the company, so it's all good."

@Ltw: And no one voted against Obama because of racism. That's what they told me, and I believe 'em. Now to pick up title to that bridge I bought.

Do they get unemployment from the state for being fired for being "too pretty"?

I think we need all the facts. Picture, please.

"But, hey, he's the one who created and owns the company, so it's all good."
Still doesn't make it better for her, does it?

Try this:
Because of his "family values" he fires a woman who worked for him for years, because he had (impure!!) thoughts of doing the nasty. If he were a strong Family Man, wouldn't he be stronger by fighting the urge instead of getting rid of it?

I'm confused as to why this isnt a sexual harrasment suit

It seems odd because she has been employed with him for 10 years, and the firing was not job performance related.

He may be within his rights, but he's an asshole and most likely so is his wife.

But for nipples, breasts would be pointless.

"Picture, please"

http://www.gadailynews.com/news/national/147133-pictured-the-assistant-melissa-nelson-fired-by-dentist-because-she-was-irresistably-attractive-and-threat-to-his-marriage.html

This dentist is a scumbag trying to hide his lechery under a cloak of family values.

I hope with all this publicity that Ms Nelson gets snapped up by someone who can appreciate her.

Hmm, fire my dental assistant of 10 years or risk a divorce? What should I do? I know, I'll preserve my marriage and everyone can call me a scumbag for it. Sounds perfectly reasonable to me, compared to the alternative. Though I would have given her three months severance at least.

Every dentist I've ever gone to has had attractive young female dental assistants - even the female dentists.

I don't think dental assistant schools take male students.

Lujlp's comment is exactly what I was going to write: "I'm confused as to why this isnt a sexual harrasment suit"

The employer's statements sound like sexual harassment to me.

As long as she was fired "without cause" or that state's equivalent. In which case, she would get unemployment.

"he's an asshole and most likely so is his wife."

Yep, and if we try to outlaw being an asshole then half the population (along with most politicians) will be outlaws.

He may not really be an asshole but a man who was bored in his marriage, enjoyed a flirtation, and then the wife put an end to it. Unfortunately, the hottie had to pay which isn't fair and it goes deeper than should a company be forced to keep on an employee who is wrong for them.

Was she wrong for the company? No. Apparently for 10 years she was just what the doctor ordered. She is now losing ten years seniority at her job and has to start over. It happens and I'm sure she'll land on her feet but still, it is the stuff sexual harassment was borne from. "If my clothes are bulging, yours are too tight." Really? Fun is fun until you get fired for it.

If she had been male, would he still have fired her for being attractive and making his wife jealous? And if not, how can that not be gender based? Secondly, I would only suppose that this case does not prevent a sexual harassment suit next.

It's getting into Islamic, burka-territory. The man finds the woman hot, it's the woman's fault. Fire (stone?) her. Seems like she's got a good harassment suit. That he texted her asking about orgasms is already agreed upon.

I don't see how this meets the legal definition of sexual harassment. There was no quid pro quo ("Sleep with me or you're fired"), and it doesn't look like she asked him to leave her alone.

I had a somewhat similar problem several years ago when my ex was promoted and excluded me from a project that was in my wheelhouse because his new girlfriend didn't want him working closely with me. In my case I was able to work it out by confronting the issue. What he did wasn't /right/, but it wasn't really sexual harassment.

Was she wrong for the company? No. Apparently for 10 years she was just what the doctor ordered. She is now losing ten years seniority at her job and has to start over. It happens and I'm sure she'll land on her feet but still, it is the stuff sexual harassment was borne from. "If my clothes are bulging, yours are too tight." Really? Fun is fun until you get fired for it. -- Kristen at December 23, 2012 4:19 PM

Iowa is an At Will employment state. The employer can fire you for any reason or no reason at all. You can also walk off the job with no repercussions. (This is in general but there are the usual sex/age/race restrictions -- see link.)

As for losing seniority -- most doctor, dentist, optometrist, and similar offices are a small business. Seniority isn't really defined, except for some benefits, such as vacation time or pay raises. And even those are generally negotiable.

Yes there is a sexual harassment component to this, but she didn't sue on that basis. As far as that goes, she probably never objected to it at all in the past, so trying to claim it now, her lawyer knew it was a losing claim.

I do agree she should probably have gotten more severance, but that is a decision between the small business owner and the employee.

It's only sexual harassment if she asked him to stop texting her about orgasms, etc., and he didn't, or if she can show she was reasonably afraid for her job if she didn't sleep with him.

Sexual remarks aren't necessarily illegal harassment.

This would be taliban territory if thw government went around firing attractive women because their male coworkers were tempted, or if the wives if those coworkers were jealous. But that's not what happened here. When you work for the post office, you have to put up with being tempted, or annoyed, or grossed out by your coworkers. When you own your own busineas, you get to decide how much temptation, or pencil-tapping or bo you will put up with. It really is that simple.

Isn't it the job of a dentist to fill the office with goddesses, who will spend their time mere inches away from the filthiest part of your body?

Gee, I respect my dentist, but I REALLY want to impress the hygienist!

The way some of you are spinning this story, it would have been a sexual harassment case and the lady would have won.

But in the version I read, it was not the dentist that found her "too hot" -- it was his wife. Thus if there's any blame to be had, it belongs to her.

If you were the dentist, and your wife (effectively) gave you the choice of giving up your job, your marriage, or the hygienist, you'd fire her too. I know I would. A guy faced with that choice simply cannot fairly be blamed.

jdgalt, so the wife outta the blue after a decade decided the assistant was too hot?

And what about the dentists comments on his assistats sex life?

Wife didn't decide it out of the blue. She discovered text messages between the two that were quite personal.

No has been able to explain to me why it would be illegal sexual harassment to fire someone for being too hot.