Is this professionally appropriate?

"In interviews last week some said the new staffing choices have created an awkward situation, as Mr. Davey and Ms. Fairbrother have been a couple since they met while working on Mr. Ignatieff's first run for Parliament, in 2005. The Liberal power couple live on Sparks St., near Parliament Hill, in the small apartment which Mr. Ignatieff and his wife, Zsuzsanna Zsohar, vacated when they decamped to Stornoway, the official residence of the leader of the opposition, when Mr. Ignatieff took over from former leader Stéphane Dion (Saint-Laurent-Cartierville, Que.).

"How can you be critical of her?" said the Liberal source.

"[It's] awkward in the sense that you have two people dating and if somebody has an issue about how communications are done, or with a quote, or a story, or just media, who do you take it up with? And so if the buck is supposed to stop with Ian then it's kind of an awkward situation that you're going behind her back to complain to Ian about it. If that relationship didn't exist, that would just be sort of the norm."

http://hilltimes.com/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=2009/august/24/himelfarb/&c=2

I am a huge believer in gender equality.
However, I don't know how the OLO can be effectively managed when the Chief of Staff is romantically involved with the Director of Communications. If I worked in the OLO I would be terrified to criticize Liberal communications practices in the Chief of Staff's presence. The whole situation just doesn't seem right. But what do I know? I'm not a Toronto lawyer and I don't live in Rosedale.