Actually the title of this post probably makes no connection except that the theme from the Music Man was a story based in Iowa and the litigation in Nelson v. James H. Knight DDS, P.C. is also from Iowa.  The Iowa Supreme Court recently  unanimously reaffirmed that an unfair termination is not illegal (Iowa is an at-will employment state), and that terminating an employee based on a consensual, personal relationship (even if based on sexual attraction) does not amount to gender discrimination.

As reported by the very well written blog, On Brief: Iowa’s Appellate Blog

“The majority opinion, written by Justice Mansfield and joined by Justices Appel, Waterman, and Zager, remains mostly unchanged (though there are additions and alterations). But this time around, Chief Justice Cady wrote a concurring opinion to further explain his reasoning. Perhaps responding to the media coverage of the Court’s earlier decision, Chief Justice Cady (joined by Justices Wiggins and Hecht) wrote that “challenges to defining sex discrimination in the workplace have, at times, created controversy and divisiveness, especially when decisions by courts are not fully explained or when court decisions are not fairly read and interpreted or accepted.”

And with that, the Chief Justice explained himself. Dr. James Knight terminated long-time employee Melissa Nelson, after Knight’s wife asked him to do so. Knight and Nelson had a developed a consensual personal relationship that extended beyond the workplace, and Knight was admittedly attracted to Nelson. Because of that, Knight’s wife and Knight both feared that Nelson’s continued employment posed a threat to their marriage. That may be unfair, but it’s not illegal. Chief Justice Cady summed it up this way:

“The complexity of such cases is not necessarily tied to the complexity of the law as much as the complexity of human relationships and interactions with others. Nevertheless, the law does not escape some blame for the difficult nature of the issue in light of the countervailing employment-at-will doctrine, which permits employers to terminate employees for reasons personal to them, so long as the will of the employer is not discriminatory or otherwise against public policy. This is our law in Iowa. Thus, while the loss of a job is often devastating to an employee, and at times unfair, these considerations do not play a role under our employment-at-will doctrine, and our exceptions to this law, such as sex discrimination, are only based on the underlying discriminatory. Of course, the unfairness is enhanced for employees when the termination results from a personal relationship with the employer because only the employee suffers the loss of a job, while the other participant in the relationship does not. This result can make acceptance of the law even more difficult.”

So that is the end of the case except there remains trouble in River City.  AP reporter Ryan Foley  reported  that  Melissa Nelson–the “irresistible employee”–has filed a second petition for rehearing.