Awful

Man With No Self-Control Fires Dental Assistant For Being ‘Irresistible,’ A ‘Threat’ To His Marriage

Looks don’t always help you get ahead professionally. Melissa Nelson, who worked as a dental assistant from 1999 to 2012, was just canned for tempting her boss with her “irresistible” appearance and threatening his own marriage as such.

“Dr. Knight acknowledges he once told Nelson that if she saw his pants bulging, she would know her clothing was too revealing,” the Iowa Supreme Court justices wrote of the manager, who had also asked Nelson via text “how often she experienced an orgasm.” She never gave him an answer, but Knight’s wife found out about the exchange and asked her husband to get rid of Nelson. So in 2010, he did — and provided her a month’s severance. Knight claimed Nelson was “the best dental assistant he ever had,” but the temptation was just too much for him to handle. Worst of all? The Iowa Supreme Court ruled last week that it’s perfectly acceptable to ax hot staffers:

“The question we must answer is … whether an employee who has not engaged in flirtatious conduct may be lawfully terminated simply because the boss views the employee as an irresistible attraction,” Justice Edward M. Mansfield wrote for the all-male high court.

“Dr. Knight felt like for the best interest of his marriage and the best interest of hers to end their employment relationship,” Knight’s attorney told Yahoo! “Our position has always been Mrs. Nelson was never terminated because of her gender, she was terminated because of concerns her behavior was not appropriate in the workplace. She’s an attractive lady. Dr. Knight found her behavior and dress to be inappropriate.”

It’s one thing to have a worker who wears revealing outfits, but there’s no excuse for the whole “pants bulging” remark, among other things. Beautiful women are everywhere and it’s not okay to punish them financially and personally for your own lack of discipline.

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