CHICAGO- An "irresistible" Iowa dental assistant fired
for threatening her boss's marriage -- even though she turned away
his advances -- has lost her discrimination lawsuit.
Melissa Nelson, who is married with children, had
worked for James Knight for 10 years before his wife complained
about his infatuation with her.
Nelson told the court that she had seen Knight as a
father figure and a man of "integrity" who generally treated her
with respect.
But about nine years into the job, Knight started to
complain that her clothes were "distracting" because they
"accentuated her body," and he sometimes asked her to cover up with
her lab coat.
At one point, Knight told Nelson that "if she saw his
pants bulging, she would know her clothing was too revealing,"
court records showed.
After she told him that his complaint about the
tightness of her shirt wasn't fair, he texted back that it was a
good thing she didn't wear tight pants too "because then he would
get it coming and going," the court records showed.
And at one point when Knight discussed infrequency in
Nelson's sex life, he told her "that's like having a Lamborghini in
the garage and never driving it."
Knight's wife, who also worked in the dental office,
put her foot down when she discovered the two were texting each
other.
After meeting with their pastor, Knight agreed to fire
Nelson because she was a "big threat to our marriage."
Knight had his pastor by his side when he told Nelson
that their relationship -- even if there was no sexual affair --
had become a "detriment" to his family and that for the sake of
both their families they shouldn't work together.
He later told Nelson's husband she had not done
anything wrong or inappropriate, but that he was worried "he would
try to have an affair with her down the road if he did not fire
her."
Since Nelson did not consider Knight's behavior to be
sexual harassment, the Iowa Supreme Court determined the question
to be "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.
While Iowa law prohibits discrimination against
employees based on gender, the all-male court ruled that Knight's
conduct was "unfair" but "did not amount to unlawful
discrimination."
"I'm trying to stay strong. It's tough," Nelson told
CNN on Saturday, two days after the ruling was released. "I don't
think it's fair. I don't think it's right."
She denied wearing provocative clothing, telling the
television network she wore loose-fitting scrubs to work under her
lab coat.
Knight's attorney said there was a clear precedent to
allow employers to fire employees who aroused jealousy in their
spouses.
"He and his wife really agonized about it," Stuart
Cochrane told CNN. "He didn't want to terminate her."
