Shades Of Sandra
2016-05-12 22:28:51 UTC
When Nicola Thorp showed up at PwC, a finance company in London,
late last year, she was wearing flats what she thought were
smart, sensible shoes for her first day on the job as a
receptionist.
But the 27-year-old temp worker was told by PwC that she would
have to put on something a little taller. Specifically, footwear
with 2- to 4-inch heels.
Thorp refused, countering shed have to spend the day on her
feet. I said I just wont be able to do that in heels, Thorp
told BBC Radio London in an interview Wednesday. I said if you
can give me a reason as to why wearing flats would impair me to
do my job today, then fair enough, but they couldnt.
When she pointed out that men wouldnt be expected to do the
same work in heels, she says her new colleagues laughed at her
and dismissed her from work without pay.
Portico, the outsourcing company that had hired Thorp for the
PwC job, argued she had agreed to a dress code. It later told
the BBC that, with immediate effect all our female colleagues
can wear plain flat shoes. PcW said that such heels were not a
part of its rules, the BBC also reported Wednesday.
Thorp has recently seized the opportunity to petition the United
Kingdom government to outlaw mandatory high heels. Current
formal work dress codes are out-dated and sexist, writes Thorp
in her petition to the parliament. As of Thursday morning, the
petition was about 7,00 signatures shy of the 100,000 required
for the UK parliament to consider the topic for debate.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-
mix/wp/2016/05/12/temp-receptionist-in-london-refused-to-wear-2-
to-4-inch-high-heels-and-was-dismissed-from-her-job-now-shes-
petitioning-parliament/
late last year, she was wearing flats what she thought were
smart, sensible shoes for her first day on the job as a
receptionist.
But the 27-year-old temp worker was told by PwC that she would
have to put on something a little taller. Specifically, footwear
with 2- to 4-inch heels.
Thorp refused, countering shed have to spend the day on her
feet. I said I just wont be able to do that in heels, Thorp
told BBC Radio London in an interview Wednesday. I said if you
can give me a reason as to why wearing flats would impair me to
do my job today, then fair enough, but they couldnt.
When she pointed out that men wouldnt be expected to do the
same work in heels, she says her new colleagues laughed at her
and dismissed her from work without pay.
Portico, the outsourcing company that had hired Thorp for the
PwC job, argued she had agreed to a dress code. It later told
the BBC that, with immediate effect all our female colleagues
can wear plain flat shoes. PcW said that such heels were not a
part of its rules, the BBC also reported Wednesday.
Thorp has recently seized the opportunity to petition the United
Kingdom government to outlaw mandatory high heels. Current
formal work dress codes are out-dated and sexist, writes Thorp
in her petition to the parliament. As of Thursday morning, the
petition was about 7,00 signatures shy of the 100,000 required
for the UK parliament to consider the topic for debate.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-
mix/wp/2016/05/12/temp-receptionist-in-london-refused-to-wear-2-
to-4-inch-high-heels-and-was-dismissed-from-her-job-now-shes-
petitioning-parliament/