Late last year, we posted about a woman who sued for wrongful termination after her boss decided she was too irresistible and a threat to his marriage. At the time, the Iowa Supreme Court declined to offer any employment protections to a woman – whether under the auspices of gender discrimination or sexual harassment – to a woman who was fired for being too good looking.
The court unanimously refused to hear the wrongful termination lawsuit last year but recently withdrew its refusal and will issue a formal opinion in the case. No additional briefings are being accepted nor is the case scheduled for oral argument. The case is one of six that have been granted reconsideration by the court in the last 10 years.
The question now is whether the justices will completely change their mind about the case. According to one legal blogger, granting the petition to reconsider is indicative of at least one justice changing his or her mind on what the outcome of the case should be.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) calls the Iowa Supreme Court’s change of heart encouraging, calling the employment discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuit an important issue that deserves a second review.
It is possible that the court could decide the issue as soon as the end of this week. The court is slated to close all pending cases from the current term by that time.
Source: USA Today, “Iowa court to reconsider ‘irresistible employee’ case,” June 27, 2013
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