Should a man be able to treat his female employees differently based on how sexy he thinks they are? Is it okay for him to give promotions and raises to a subordinate he is sleeping with instead of other, more deserving women? How about firing a woman because he finds her “irresistible?”

Federal courts think that all of this is just fine. The law has no problem with employment being a beauty contest for women.

The latest example comes from Iowa City, where a dentist fired a long-term employee because he  found her attractive. He was afraid he would start an affair with her and did not want to threaten his marriage, so she paid for his inability to control himself by losing her livelihood.

Ironically, there was no chance of an affair: the employee viewed the dentist as “a father figure,” the AP reports. She had no sexual interest in him. The entire thing was in his mind.