Should people lose their jobs for committing adultery?

[bleedingheart]

Poll question: Should people lose their jobs for committing adultery?

I am just curious to see what people say. Personally I think that adultery falls under the "personal life" category and it should NOT be used to judge people in their "professional life".

I have worked in corporate America for some time and there a lot of people who have really wild and wacky personal lives but I don't think it is my place to judge. Should the really good C developer lose his job because he is carrying on an affair after work?
Should the doctor lose her job in the ER because she is having an affair with a colleague?

Now there are companies that do reserve the right to fire people for this kind of stuff but I want to know what yinz guys think.

edited: cuz I don't agree with it being used to judge people...I should read my posts better before submitting..

[LittleApple81]

1. I don't think that goernor McGreevy resigned because of that. Something

bigger must be coming down the pike.

[bleedingheart]

3. This is separate from McGreevy.....

I agree he has some other issues going on besides the adultery issue.

However I read a few posts where people do think that adulterous behavior is a serious character flaw and if that is the case I was interested to see what percentage of posters think that it should be a consideration in employment.

[theboss]

2. Not for just committing adultery

But if you hire your lover to a job that he or she is unqualified for, then yes, your ass should be fired.

[bleedingheart]

4. ah but don't you wish that was the case for all unqualified hires

cuz there is there are the bosses who hire wives, siblings, nephews, neices, old college buddies and other incompetents...

[theboss]

6. It should be the case

There is also a difference between public jobs and private jobs. If you own a business, you can hired whoever the hell you want. If you are in government, you can't.

[DrWeird]

5. If somebody has an extramarital affair, does that make that person..

...bad, under any circumstances.

Aren't most homosexuals who are in a heterosexual marriage in this day and age open to their spouses about it?

[theboss]

10. I wouldn't say 100 percent of affairs are bad

But you would have to make a pretty convinving argument as to why it was good. And I have no way of knowing if partners in most sham marriages are aware of the sham.

In the case of McGreevey, I don't care that he is gay and I don't care that he had an affair. I care that there is a lot of evidence that he seriously abused the power of his office.

[bleedingheart]

12. While I think that adultery is bad I really try not to judge

there are cases I have seen in the workplace that made me sick. One woman I worked with was recently divorced after her spouse cheated on her and she then went on to have an affair with a married man in our office who was having some home troubles...

But then I know a woman who had an affair while she was undergoing cancer treatments. Her husband was so upset and uncomfortable with her disease and instead of trying to get closer he became very distant.. She needed someone very much to help her and she ended up having an affair with a coworker...was it right?..no but he was her only support in that time...he even took her for her chemo treatments.

When her cancer went into remission her husband turned the attention back on but now she is conflicted about whether to remain married ...her affair ended very amicably as that other fellow doesn't want to upset her...but he is waiting for her to make up her mind.

[ScreamingMeemie]

7. Oh man, I could get seriously yelled at here, so I'll make it brief.

As I see it, marriage is a legal contract. You need a license to be married. Adultery shows a person's inablity to commit to a legally binding contract. If I was a boss ( I guess be glad I'm not folks), I would seriously question a person who committed adultery and then lied about it. Would I fire them? That's a tough one. Do they deserve a break? Hell no! But their wife and kids do, and those are the people that would probably keep me from firing them.

[checks-n-balances]

8. No, what good does THAT do? Mainly, the children would suffer the most

with a parent out of work and a family breaking up, possibly upon hearing the news of the infidelity for the first time.

If this is general grounds for termination, where is the line to be drawn? Imagine the extra personnel needed for a company to carry out such a policy, and imagine the number of additional unemployed people in the marketplace looking for jobs, additional $ paid out for severance pay, etc. Not too unrelated to recriminalizing abortions, piling waste upon waste and heartache upon heartache.

Let the adults work it out personally without the "help" of corporate America.

Edited for grammar goofs.

[wurzel]

9. Adultery is about keeping an oath.

If you can't keep that oath, how can I rely on you keeping your oath of office? Both marriage and office have their temptations.

[Cleita]

11. My first college job was in a cafeteria.

One of the attractions of the job was the free meal that was part of the job benefits. One of the checkers had an affair with one of the managers. Both were married to other people and when higher managers found out about it, they fired the checker. The manager though remained on the job. This was the first time I had seen this type of blatant sexism on the job. They put all the blame on her for tempting him. Boo hoo.

[bleedingheart]

13. that is really sickening to me.

no one should have been fired or they both should have been...but that double standard is sickening...

[Cleita]

14. This was back in 1958.

I hope this kind of sexism doesn't happen in this day and age.

[Demonaut]

15. Is adultery having sex outside of marriage?

[bleedingheart]

16. yes

[Demonaut]

17. Damn, a lot of gays are not gonna like this question

[bleedingheart]

19. personally I recognize marriages between gay partners

so I don't see a problem...


ps. my brother is gay and was in a relationship for seven years with his spouse and he was rather devastated when their relationship ended due to adultery.

[never_get_over_it]

25. No

Adultrey is not having sex outside of marriage. Two single people can have sex outside of marriage and that is not adultery. Adultery is when at least one of the partners is married. Of course a Jewish friend of mine told me that if a Jewish man has an affair with a single woman it is not adultery - but I'm suspicious of his motives - something about women being property of men and that if your'e not messing with another man's property its ok - shit like this is why I stay away from all religions.

[Gman]

18. Thousands of corporations would be out of business

if this happened. Affairs are common and a fact of life in corporate America. Many studies have been done as to why.

[bleedingheart]

21. Oh I agree...it would be like employment musical chairs

cuz there is a lot of cheating going on out there.

[flaminbats]

20. no

but they should lose their jobs for appointing secret lovers to important positions, whether public or private.

[bleedingheart]

22. that case is a combination of many issues both private and public

and appointing anyone who is unqualified for a position as a reward for sex is a bad idea...and especially if that position is a public office.

[NavajoRug]

23. It really depends on the job . . .

For any job that requires discretion and trust among fellow employees (especially if the employees have a fiduciary stake in the company), anyone who commits adultery should probably be asked to resign.

If you think this sounds harsh, just post this question to a partner in a professional practice (law firm, medical practice, etc.) who was forced to dissolve their company to pay off the divorce settlement of one of their partners.

[never_get_over_it]

24. I voted no

but it does really depend on the impact the relationship has on the workplace - in some cases it does cause a problem - like a manager having an affair with an employee and then that person getting special treatment - that's not right - maybe they shouldn't be fired but they should be taken out of that job.

[eightyferrettoes]

26. Well, I'd be out of a job for sure...

lol

Sinner Alert!

*smacking self on wrist* Sorry. But, you know, even adulterers like me can reform. People can get themselves into some VERY interesting love triangles.....

"The beatings will continue until morale improves"