So a little backstory. I work at a vision clinic as a tech, and I (along with the doctors) was invited to a dinner function/lecture thing about special lenses. In our town there's a competitor vision clinic, and some of the doctors from that clinic are speaking at the event. I told my boss (one of the doctors) about this, and he said that because our competitors are speaking we absolutely can not attend and that if I tried to attend anyway I would be fired on the spot.
Now for some context, I do really like my job and my boss. He's a decent guy, and my job is pretty cushy so I cant really complain. He was not really threating to fire me, just explaining that if I didn't run something like this by him and went anyway he would have to fire me.
I guess my question is, is there some kinda rule in the medical community that makes me attending a rival clinics events a conflict of interest, or is my boss just being petty? He is prone to being petty with other people so I wouldnt be surprised.