What's Going On: Women shouldn’t be penalized when men can’t control emotions

In Iowa, you can’t be fired because you are Jewish, gay, Hispanic, blind, old, male or female.

But you can be fired if you’re cute.

That’s the message the Iowa Supreme Court recently sent when it upheld a lower court’s ruling that a Fort Dodge dentist was within his rights for firing his dental assistant because she was, well, too cute.

Actually, the phrase used by one justice was James Knight’s “irresistible attraction” to a 10-year employee named Melissa Nelson as ample reason for the sudden termination.

When I first started reading about this case about a month ago, my first inclination was to support the dentist.

The 50-year-old husband and father is probably in the midst of a mid-life crisis, but first and foremost in the eyes of the court, he’s a small business owner.

Iowa is a right-to-work state, which in short, means an employer can fire someone for any reason other than those protected classes like religion, race, disability and gender.

You wore a blue tie to work? I hate blue. You’re fired.

You shot a deer during the weekend? I love Bambi. You’re fired.

You are a Bears’ fan and they beat my beloved Packers? You’re fired.

So yes, according to Iowa law, if you are too attractive and my wife who also works in the office sees you as a threat, you can be fired too.

Is it fair? Not even close. But if life was fair, the horse would ride half the time.

And the law isn’t about what’s fair. It’s about what’s legal and according to the law, the dentist was within his rights.

Looking beyond this specific case though, it begs the question should the law be changed?

In this specific court case, Knight contended if Nelson continued to work for him, he feared he would try to have an affair with her, jeopardizing both of their marriages.
So he did what was in his best interest and fired her.

But by the court condoning his actions, essentially they are saying men can’t be expected to control their own sexual urges. As such, harsh and punitive actions against a seemingly innocent party (Nelson) are acceptable.

They shouldn’t be.

Women, as have all minorities, have been subjected to discrimination of all shapes and sizes for centuries. That’s why we have legislation prohibiting people from being fired for their race, religion, gender or age.

However, Iowa’s sexual discrimination legislation is sorely lacking if an employer can fire someone simply because they can’t control their own emotions.

Were Knight’s actions legal? Yes. There’s nothing the court can do about that. They can only enforce the laws that are on the books.

But their ruling makes it painfully obvious why those laws need to be changed.

Gregory Orear is the General Manager/Editor of the Red Oak Express and Glenwood Opinion-Tribune. He can be contacted at publisher@redoakexpress.com.