Should an Iowa Dentist Have Fired his Attractive Assistant?
Should an Iowa Dentist Have Fired his Attractive Assistant?
Iowa's Supreme Court ruled 7-0 that a male dentist was within his legal rights to fire an attractive female assistant because he and his wife "feared he would try to have an affair with her down the road." The court said the dentist, who consulted his pastor first, did not discriminate based on gender.
What experts said (starting with "yes" and moving to "no"):
"Owners should not have to choose between keeping their business or marriage, and laws should not make it difficult for men to remove temptations that threaten their marriage. Employees do have some discretion over whether they find themselves in this situation."
Brad Dacus, president, Pacific Justice Institute
"We have to walk away from temptation; we just cannot court it, which would be happening if she had remained. The best thing to do would be to show compassion and help the woman find another job so she's not hurt by the firing."
Michael McManus, president, Marriage Savers
"The dentist made the right choice in fighting to save his marriage. But we should take this as a cautionary tale. By establishing boundaries at work early on, the situation would not have gotten as far, and that assistant would not have lost her job."
Greg Smalley, executive director of marriage and family formation, Focus on the Family
"If someone has many risk factors, then it's important to adjust behavior to protect the marriage relationship. But the employer would have many other options if he feels that his self-control is going to be stretched beyond his ability to stop himself."
Jennifer Ripley, doctoral psychology program director, Regent University (Virginia)
"Jesus said 'If your ...
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audrey ruth
We don't have enough information here to make an accurate judgment one way or the other on the dentist's action. All we have in this article is a brief bare bones statement with no explanations whatsoever. It WAS better for him to fire the worker than to commit adultery. Beyond that, we don't have any info.
Stacey Frith-Smith
I can see where someone would have a desire to play it safe and to protect the sanctity of their marriage relationship- but his solution is a selfish one. In terminating her, the dentist is basically saying that his level of risk is so escalated that he doesn't owe her the debt of balancing his interests regarding his marriage relationship with her interests in continued employment and fiscal solvency. I agree with the idea that there is a tendency to still punish women for the sins of men. Actually, we all have a seamy underbelly where we attempt to escape the pain of being conformed to Christ by simply absenting ourselves from the world. In some cases this is an excellent idea, a no-brainer. We have no need to stand next to sin in order to test our resolve. However, this dentist hired this assistant and entered into a professional relationship with her. By doing so, he incurred the responsibility for maintaining his own professional boundaries. He doesn't seem to grasp this.
Dr. Norman L. Martin
I agree with Annette Lengyel. I noticed that nothing in The Christianity Today article on the decision gave any real information on how Iowa's Supreme court managed to come to its decision. Must have been some quirk in the law. "He fired her because he "thought" he may try to have an affair with her? He feared he couldn't control himself or at least his wife feared he would act on his lascivious thoughts, which in itself is a sin. How about a Christian response that remembers not to blame the victim. He should at least have seen license Christian Counselor to find a far better way than his pastor did by blessing his action. As a Chaplain/Pastoral Counselor with many years experience, I wonder if he feared losing control of his desires to the point of unwanted advances toward the employee, or worse. He should get help immediately for there will always be sexual temptations and boundaries need to be in place and firm.