Romantic Entanglement?
Dr Stephanie Meadows had graduated from dental school almost 5 years earlier and was
earnestly building her solo practice and her reputation as an excellent dentist who was
active in her community of 75,000 people. Her profession was very important to her, and
she took its responsibilities very seriously. She had little time left over for anything else,
including the development of personal relationships with men.
Thus, she was surprised when she found herself becoming attracted to one of her long
time patients, John Anderson. They talked about little other than the usual patient-dentist
topics, but she sensed that they had common interests and similar viewpoints. He, too,
was unmarried.
Dr Meadows began to think that she would like to get to know him better—perhaps have
dinner with him—and she sensed that he had the same feeling. However, she believed
strongly that dentists should avoid romantic entanglements with their patents. She
wondered how to handle her unexpected interest, or if it would be better to ignore it
completely.
The Dating Game
Dr Jack Draper is a general dentist in a large group practice. He went to Dr Alan
Madison, his friend and one of the other partners, for some confidential advice. Dr
Draper said that he was currently dating one of his patients and wanted to marry her. The
problem was that he had previously been involved with a different patient who was now
threatening to “make a stink” if he did not marry her instead. During the course of their
conversation, Dr Draper acknowledged dating and having sexual relations with a number
of his patients, including the one who was making a fuss. He was upset by the mess he
was in but thought that he had done nothing wrong. He felt that because he was an
eligible bachelor, there was nothing wrong in having “looked everywhere” for a suitable
spouse.
Dr Madison was troubled by his friend’s predicament and considered what he should do.
The Risk of Knowledge
On Friday morning, Claudia Schneider arrived at her office at the usual time of 7:30 and
was surprised to see Janet Cronin seated in the reception area of the Human Resources
Department. Janet was visibly distressed and looked as if she had been crying for some
time. Claudia ushered her into her office, where Janet told her, even before she removed
her coat, that she was resigning, effective immediately.
Janet had been hired 4 ½ months earlier as senior secretary to Jonah Albert, 54,
division head at Academic, Inc. Janet was a graduate of Katherine Gibbs Secretarial
School and had joined Academic, Inc., immediately after her graduation from the
program.
As part of Janet's orientation to Academic, Inc., Claudia had been responsible for
providing explanations of corporate policies and employment benefits. Her presentation
included a discussion of laws governing equal opportunity, affirmative action, and sexual
harassment. All new employees received an employee handbook, which confirmed the
company's commitment to compliance with the above regulations.
The reason Janet gave for her resignation was sexual harassment by her
immediate supervisor. The single incident involved had occurred the previous evening.
Janet had worked several nights during the week in order to complete an extensive report
for her boss. As a nonexempt employee, she would receive additional compensation, at
time and one-half, for all hours over 40 worked during the week. By Thursday evening at
8:15, she had completed the typing of the report and was preparing to leave when her
supervisor stepped out of his office and thanked her for her effort over the past few days.
He suggested that he buy her dinner in appreciation of her dedication. In the past,
whenever they had to work late, Mr. Albert would treat any of his staff still in the office
to a sandwich, or occasionally they would send out for Chinese food. Tonight, though,
since their work was done and they were heading home, he suggested eating out to
"celebrate" the completion of the report. Because of its proximity to their office, Mr.
Albert chose one of his favorite restaurants, Locke-Ober's.
Janet went on to describe a sumptuous dinner, complete with a before-dinner
drink, wine during the meal, and brandy in the lounge afterward. It was clear from her
tone and the details she recalled that Janet had never previously enjoyed such an
impressive or costly meal. It was approaching 10:30 when they finished, and Mr. Albert,
wary of public transportation at such a late hour, offered to drive Janet to her home.
When she declined, he pressed a $20 bill into her hand and stood with her in the
restaurant lobby until the taxi he had called arrived. As she stepped into the cab, he
thanked her again for her effort on the report and for the pleasure of her company during
dinner.
Reminding Janet that all conversations she had with employees were held in the
strictest confidence, Claudia asked. "But what else did he say? What did he actually do?"
Janet looked embarrassed and answered, "He spent over $200 on me last night. He took
me to a restaurant I thought I'd never see the inside of and kept telling me what a terrific
secretary I was. He didn't have to do or say anything more. It was clear what he wanted."
Claudia wondered what she should say next to Janet and what she would tell Mr.
Albert when he called later that morning to say that Janet had neither come to work nor
called with an explanation.
While this last case isn’t focused on dentistry, it does raise some serious questions about
appropriate fraternization in the workplace (i.e., the clinic). How do you view this case?
Should Claudia just “get over it,” or is there a broader issue here?