Oh come on, having sex with a coworker is rape now? This is getting ridiculous. Why not just go the whole way and require all sexual activity to come with with a signed and notarized consent form?

No? Having sex with a coworker is not rape, and no one said nor insinuated it was.

Go forth and consensually bang your coworkers. Knock yourselves out.

When you have the ability to fire or promote someone, however, you hold significant power over their life -- potentially impacting their ability to eat, house themselves, etc. In those cases, it's valid to ask, "Is there a possibility someone is being coerced into sex because they can't afford to say no?"

This is question of consent. It's not an allegation of rape. It's only a question and there are probably times the answer is no.

You don't have to knee jerk react to someone pointing out an obvious potential conflict of interest and go "so everything is rape now?"