MacKenzie Gage
Iowa Supreme Court Decision
Mass Comm Law and Ethics
12/13/13
Dental Assistant Fired For Being Too Beautiful
When watching the videos and reading the court case of this incident I thought that it was extremely wrong and seemed very unfair for the dentist to be able to have that power over his female dental hygienist. I could not believe that this was the truth and that is how the real world is. When I was listening to the 20/20 video it did not seem fair and I was a little bit in shock. This was an interesting case to read and listen too though because it gave me so perspective on what the real world can be like.
When I was comparing and contrasting the 20/20 video and the Iowa Supreme Court Decision I was intrigued by how similar but very different the two means of communication were even though they were talking about the same story. I did not look at the third option because the video for the Tosh.O video did not work and was not posted anymore on the site. There was not false information in either mean of communication it was mostly the fact of how they were presenting the information to the audience. After listening to the two I could definitely see how the media can alter the information to see the issue in a completely different way than it was meant to be.
In the video on ABC’s 20/20, the story was written in the dental hygienist, Melissa Nelson’s favor. It was very evident which side the news casters and reporters were on. They were presenting both sides on the story so the reporting was ethical but reporters and news casters repeated multiple times that, “this is just wrong,” and “one month’s severance pay, for ten years of quality work, that just does not seem right.” So a contrasting element of the two pieces is that the 20/20 videos showed more personality and opinions into Melissa Nelson’s story about being fired for being too attractive.
James Knight was the dentist that fired his dental hygienist for ten years because she was too “irresistibly attractive.” The problem with James Knight was that he could not control his sexual urges and was being very inappropriate while at work and outside of work. Melisa Nelson said, “I can only think that it was some sort of midlife crisis.”
Throughout the last year and a half of their working relationship is when things started to get weird. James Knight asked, “How is your personal life? How often do you and your husband have sex?”
Melissa Nelson would respond, “Not that often.”
James Knight would then say, “That is like having a Lamborghini in the garage and never driving it.”
Comments like these would happen very frequently during the office hours and also through text messages outside of the work day. I think that it is very unprofessional for James Knight to ask about personal information like Melissa Nelson’s personal and sex life. I also think that the first mistake that Melissa made was not going to the police and making a complaint after the comments and questions first started. This is not something that any man and especially boss should be asking their employees. The outcome of this court case could be completely different if the police and courts would have had a record of the things that James was doing.
Another issue I have with this case or story is that fact that Melissa would continue the conversation with her boss. She should have never responded to the text messages that did not have any relation to the dentistry. I know that these two did have a closer relationship than most boss and employee but it was still an issue that would have never happened if personal conversation was never brought up in the first place.
So the contrasting part of the two different communication methods was the fact that the ABC 20/20 show talked more about Melissa’s story with her personal opinions the things that were the same was the complete story line. Both the 20/20 show and the Iowa Supreme Court Ruling had the same story. I am glad to see that the opinionated 20/20 show still used the real quotes, chronological order of events, and storyline that the court ruling had.
Some of the major points were hard to hear and imagine that an adult man would say that to his employee but I had to realize that things like this are happening all around us. One of the first things that started this case was James Knight asking Melissa to “cover up and not wear too revealing of clothes.”
The 20/20 show was able to visualize Melissa’s uniform that she was required to wear every day and I am shocked that James thought that her uniform was at all revealing. It was scrubs, a very baggy and one colored outfit. I would like to know what he would do working in a business office when women do sometimes wear revealing clothes.
James said, “You will know if my pants start bulging that your clothes are too tight and revealing.”
Melissa should have known from that moment that there was something wrong with this man if he was ok with himself to say something like that in a business setting but she just shrugged it off like it was a joke. Things like think continued and in my opinion kept getting worse. I know if I were in Melissa’s shoes that I would have said something or resolved the issue as quickly as possible.
So the story continues and this is when the case goes south for Melissa. The case report stated that James and his children went on a family vacation, but James’s wife stayed home. While the Knights were on vacation James’s wife found out that her husband, James, was texting Melissa. When her family returned from vacation she demanded that he fire Melissa because she was putting stress and distracting James from his own family and his work. James’s wife also thought that if Melissa continued to work at the dentistry they would continue their relationship and have an affair.
Melissa said, “I would never have done that. I am happily married and have children of my own.”
Melissa’s husband also commented,” Why would those thoughts even cross your mind? This is my wife. Why are you thinking of her as an object?”
Since James knew that he was distracted by Melissa’s beauty James called her into his office once he was back from vacation. James then said, “Melissa you cannot work in the office anymore because I am becoming attracted to you, and not able to focus on my family, and my family life.”
Melissa said,” I instantly broke down in tears. All I remember is just sitting there, and not able to get up, telling him that I love my job.”
James then proceeded to give her a month’s severance pay and asked her to leave. Melissa then was heartbroken and unemployed. She had lost her job that she lived and breathed for. She then began to try and take this to the court where she was denied twice because the seven Supreme Justices said that is was not illegal to fire someone for being too beautiful or if someone was threaten a marriage and family life. To this day Melissa is working as a waitress at a local restaurant because she does not think that she can trust anyone again to get another job in her line of work.
As I said earlier the things that are the same with these two different versions of the case are the story line, quotes, and chronological order. Things that are different are the way that they are represented and the fact that the 20/20 videos are more about Melissa and her opinion on the matter. I think that Melissa had every reason to be upset and feel as though men can rule her life. I think this whole situation is unfair and should have been ruled differently. I think that it is a great learning experience to others though now so women and men that could be in this situation is that you need to report things that do not feel right or that are an invasion of privacy.
I enjoyed learning about this case and it makes me think of what could happen in the future and how to protect myself if it was to happen. I think that women all over the world will now be able to stand up for themselves and stop any harassment that is happening in the workplace sooner rather than later to not have a situation like this one happen to them.
MacKenzie Gage 