Oh that's right! And didn't he say he twirls around in those skirts? And the panties...you got to wonder exactly where he gets those? Does he go to Victoria Secret and insist on trying them on or is he one of those guys who steal them at the laundromat? If he does, I wonder is he one of those who picks them out before in some woman's dirty laundry when she's not looking or after from the dryer all fluffy fresh? Now that's something to contemplate...

Excuse me, I need to go laugh my ass off.

Yeah, I bet you do own your sexuality. How much did you pay for it, again? Twirl, twirl...twirl, twirl, twirl.

Amazingly, I with 'overabundance of tildes' on this one. It's illegal to insist employees pay out of pocket for some expense of the employer. The office manager is a dope on this one. It's a form of coercion/harassment not that much different than sexual harassment. If you were to get fired because of it, you could sue the owner. You can check this out with the government federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and/or your state’s fair employment agency. You can also check this out by calling the Federal Labor Relations Authority at (202) 482-6600.

Personally, I would make the call and check it out completely and then inform the office manager you're not paying because you weren't asked about it beforehand. If she makes a stink, tell her what's she's doing is illegal. That ought to shut her up. You can also inform everyone else that this is illegal also. Then she can scramble paying for this stupidity on her own.

I would tell her and everyone this matter-of-factly with no overtone of "I'm right/you're wrong" or anger to it. Just matter of factly with confidence and then go do your job.

I would actually NOT do it in a formal sense of an email, etc. You don't want them coming up with an excuse to fire the person because of an "attitude problem", etc. because that email incenses the owner, etc. That could backfire.

I would politely decline when asked by the office manager saying, "No thank you, I'm not paying because we were not informed of this or asked beforehand and I disagree with it (or I can't afford it) and, WOW, did you know, informing us we HAVE to contribute is really illegal?" Then I would tell the office manager to call the EEOC and check it out.

When others in the office bring it up, I would say exactly the same thing, in a nonchalant, polite smiling manner.

Let the others start to grumble about it, the office manager start to sweat and this will be put to bed post hast. As a matter of fact, I would start an office pool on the number of days the office manager still has her job (just kidding, sort of).

Who isn't bold here?

Anyway, I totally agree with what you say. I think the associate dentists should do exactly that. And the LW could show the code if she thought she could trust the associate dentist she works for. I would say, though, if that isn't the situation for the LW with the dentist they work for, then I would do it my way - polite and casual but firm. In truth, it's too bad there is no HR department equivalent here as NO HR department in any corporation would put up with this. That office manager would be called into a "conference" and/or out on her ass faster than you can say "whoops".