Court backs firing of woman deemed ‘too attractive’

(France) The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a dentist’s decision to fire his female assistant for being too attractive and therefore a threat to his marriage. The woman’s lawyer has said the all-male court’s decision sends a harmful message to women.

After ten years of working as a dentist’s assistant in the Midwestern state of Iowa, 32-year-old Melissa Nelson was fired on January 4, 2010. The reason, according to her boss, Dr. James Knight, was that she was too attractive.

Knight said her assistant posed a threat to his marriage. Nelson sued her boss for gender discrimination.

Two years later, on December 21, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favour of the accused, saying that Knight had acted legally in firing Nelson. The exclusively male court said employers could fire employees they saw as an “irresistible attraction”, even if those employees had done nothing wrong. Those firings are not discriminatory, because they are motivated by feelings, not gender, Justice Edward M. Mansfield wrote.

France24.com