Employee Relations

• The Iowa Supreme Court ruled that a church-sponsored retirement center had not acted improperly in dismissing a female custodian. The custodian and her husband had been hired as a "team" and were required to live in an apartment on the premises. The husband was employed as building superintendent. A year after the couple was hired, the husband was dismissed because he allegedly had circulated notes threatening the administrator. The wife was also dismissed because "the termination of [her husband's] employment necessarily destroyed the team concept," and also out of a concern that her "effectiveness would be hampered by resentment" over her husband's dismissal. She sued the center, claiming that her discharge constituted sex discrimination, breach of contract, and a violation of "public policy." A trial court and a state appeals court ruled in favor of the center, and the wife appealed ...