# Dental assistant fired for being luscious
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [December 23, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943 "2012-12-23T18:01:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/41 "2013-06-28T14:13:32Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> They can’t do that.
> Where will they find another man of his calibre?
>
> ba-da-bump _tish!_
Nonesense. They’re all cannon fodder.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/42 "2013-06-28T14:38:54Z")
> [@](#):
>
> But in the final months of her employment, he complained that her tight clothing was distracting, once telling her that if his pants were bulging that was a sign her clothes were too revealing, according to the opinion.
And the wife is blaming the assistant instead of her husband? Although she had no interest in her boss and told him so, he said that he thought an affair was inevitable. Why isn’t he being sued for sexual harassment by the former assistant?
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/43 "2013-06-28T14:40:46Z")
Because she shared details of her sex life with him voluntarily.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/44 "2013-06-28T16:22:29Z")
> [@astro](#):
>
> I’m not quite getting the outrage over this. The circumstances are unfortunate but in a certain context he did the most responsible thing possible.
>
> If I was married with kids and was impossibly mentally and physically attracted to my assistant terminating them to save my marriage would be the wisest course of action. People do this all the time. His mistake was that he was overt about it.
I agree with this. It’s unfortunate that this has been framed as something the assistant was doing. But the dentist had a right to fire an employee if he found himself becoming too attracted to her. Yes, a stronger man would have been able to ignore this attraction he was feeling. But a person has to recognize their own limitations. The dentist didn’t think he could handle the situation of working with somebody he was attracted to so he ended it.
However, I don’t agree that he was necessarily wrong in being honest about his reasons. He would have been wrong if he had made up some false accusation of incompetence to cover up his real reason for firing her.
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### Author:  [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/45 "2013-06-28T16:42:10Z")
Yeah! Maybe she should have just been less attractive or something if she wanted to be gainfully employed. After all, it makes perfect sense to punish a woman because a man can’t control himself.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/46 "2013-06-28T16:52:47Z")
She’s not being punished. It’s an “at will” employment state, and she was terminated for a reason that is not prohibited. I am hugely troubled by the fact that she can be fired because of his lack of self-control, but it’s hard to see how she has a legal remedy.
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### Author:  [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/47 "2013-06-28T16:55:20Z")
This is just like _Horrible Bosses_, but in reverse!
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/48 "2013-06-28T17:15:05Z")
There’s so much going on in this story; so many people making so many questionable decisions. From the article:
> [@](#):
>
> 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.
I think they got that part right.
> [@](#):
>
> 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.
This part is bullshit. The article describes how Knight and Nelson were both making stupid decisions and blurring the boundaries of their marriages; if they had both kept those boundaries in place, the firing would not have been necessary.
That all said, if dentist James Knight hadn’t been such an idiot and fired her with a reasonable excuse like, “There just isn’t enough work, so we have to let you go,” we wouldn’t even be hearing about this. “I have to let you go because I can’t keep my dick in my pants” is ridiculous.
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### Author:  [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/49 "2013-06-28T17:30:24Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> She’s not being punished. It’s an “at will” employment state, and she was terminated for a reason that is not prohibited. I am hugely troubled by the fact that she can be fired because of his lack of self-control, but it’s hard to see how she has a legal remedy.
He may have been legally entitled to fire her because she gave him a chubby, but that doesn’t change the fact that in the bigger picture, the woman here is being punished for the lack of male self control. Disgusting.
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### Author:  [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/50 "2013-06-28T17:42:25Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#):
>
> After all, it makes perfect sense to punish a woman because a man can’t control himself.
It can make you mad enough to spit.
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> but it’s hard to see how she has a legal remedy.
Oh, she’ll give him a good cleaning…
\*And if I sunk this practice over your heart
Encircling you with suits and AP wire,
Well, I cannot fill this bridge,
(cause I’m staring down your chasm)
I’ll try to save my marriage, So You’re Fired…!
\*
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/51 "2013-06-28T17:50:43Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#):
>
> Jeez, the _least_ he could have done is find her a job with one of his friends in the industry.
And give her a very good letter of recommendation for future use.
Although if I could fire folks for wearing stinky cologne…
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### Author:  [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/52 "2013-06-28T18:01:18Z")
The obvious solution would have been for the dentist to arrange a threesome with her and his wife, then everyone’s happy.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/53 "2013-06-28T18:05:27Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#):
>
> He may have been legally entitled to fire her because she gave him a chubby, but that doesn’t change the fact that in the bigger picture, the woman here is being punished for the lack of male self control. Disgusting.
Agreed.
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### Author:  [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/54 "2013-06-28T18:59:13Z")
I don’t see what the problem is, an employer and employee have an agreement where the employer pays the employee an agreed-upon amount and the employee provides services in return (not _those_ sort of services you prevert.) The employer or employee should be able to terminate that agreement at any time. Couldn’t the assistant quit if she found the boss too attractive?
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/55 "2013-06-28T19:06:07Z")
> [@control-z](#):
>
> I don’t see what the problem is, an employer and employee have an agreement where the employer pays the employee an agreed-upon amount and the employee provides services in return (not _those_ sort of services you prevert.) The employer or employee should be able to terminate that agreement at any time. Couldn’t the assistant quit if she found the boss too attractive?
I think the dentist is strange for not being able to metaphorically keep it in his pants.
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### Author:  [@67java89](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/67java89)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/56 "2013-06-28T20:23:14Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> Yeah, this story was way over sensationalized. This lady had worked with the dentist 10 years. Wore scrubs and was a typical looking soccer mom. Thats why I said earlier this was more like an emotional attraction. You gotta keep your distance from people that you are emotionally drawn too.
>
> [Article with pictures.](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2252135/Melissa-Nelson-Judges-married-dentist-fired-aide-said-irresistibly-attractive.html)
> Can’t imagine why this guy didn’t just didn’t terminate her without bringing up the sex distraction excuse. That’s just tacky and dumb. Give her a couple weeks severance pay and a really good letter of recommendation.
>
> If she’s a dental hygienist then that’s a skilled job. She shouldn’t have any problems getting hired by another dentist.
The Knights both look crazy, IMO
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### Author:  [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/57 "2013-06-28T20:39:33Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> She’s not being punished. It’s an “at will” employment state, and she was terminated for a reason that is not prohibited. I am hugely troubled by the fact that she can be fired because of his lack of self-control, but it’s hard to see how she has a legal remedy.
Read the prior decision, the gravaman of the civil rights law was they are NOT “fairness” laws.
The ISC has vacated the decision to reconsider, and I will guess it will incorporate the “covenenant of good faith and fair dealing” into exceptions to at will, such as Monge v. Beebe Rubber, from memory.
Oh COA at the law library has good volumes on such, COA for wrongful discharge to at will employment.
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### Author:  [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/58 "2013-06-28T20:52:42Z")
Y’know, it just occurred to me: This woman should be glad she’s not in Saudi Arabia. If she’s that hot, she might’ve been [deported](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/hottie-deported-saudi-arabia-handsome-article-1.1327759)!
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### Author:  [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/59 "2013-06-28T22:06:23Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#):
>
> \*And if I sunk this practice over your heart
> Encircling you with suits and AP wire,
> Well, I cannot fill this bridge,
> (cause I’m staring down your chasm)
> I’ll try to save my marriage, So You’re Fired…!
> \*
Mr. Sumner would like to have a word with you, as soon as he’s done giggling.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dental-assistant-fired-for-being-luscious/644943/60 "2013-06-28T22:48:31Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#):
>
> Yeah! Maybe she should have just been less attractive or something if she wanted to be gainfully employed. After all, it makes perfect sense to punish a woman because a man can’t control himself.
Well, one of them had to go and the dentist would have had a hard time firing himself.
As I wrote, the assistant wasn’t at fault. She did nothing wrong. But her boss found he couldn’t work with her. So he fired her.
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