Can a person be fired for sleeping with their boss’ wife? What if they never had any contact with her except for outside of work?
Most states are “at will” states which means that you can fire someone for any reason except those expressly prohibited, e.g., race, gender, whistle-blower.
Are you in the USA? If so, you can pretty much be fired for anything, unless it’s racial/religious/gender etc. discrimination or goes against your contract.
An Ex-gf of mine worked in a place with a very messy variation on this theme.
The owners wife was apparently took quite a liking to picking up on guys who worked in the store. (there were about 60 employees mostly men) She was also a part owner of the store. Several of these guys were fired for “making inappropriate sexual advances on a store employee” (the co-owner wife).
This went on for a couple years until a few of them got together and got a lawyer. Wife supposedly was put on the stand and she stated that she had not made any complaints and in fact welcomed thier advances. She admitted to having consentual sex with all of the involved men and that she would happily do so again with any of them if circumstances permitted. I don’t know the exact outcome for them but they got some cash, the store closed, and the owners divorced.
So yes, you can be fired for anything, but be prepared to explain it to a jury, they may decide otherwise.
I’m betting that the case you describe involved a defamation claim. In other words, the employer lost the case because he publicly and falsely accused the employees of sexual harassment/assault, not just because he fired them. As others have noted, the general rule in the U.S. is that an employee can be fired for any reason. As also noted, there are exceptions involving protected classes (such as race, age, etc), and exceptions involving strong public policies which prohibit firings for filing a workers’ comp claim. This also assumes no employment contract, through a union or otherwise.
So the answer to the OP is yes, you can be fired for sleeping with the boss’ wife.
Although IAAL, I’m probably not one in your state. This is general information and not legal advice that you should rely on. See a lawyer licensed in your state for that.
You do not sleep with the Bosses’ wife, until you get fired, as payback to the Boss for firing you in the first place.
It won’t be any fun for the boss’s wife after you get fired.