A Woman Sent Home From Work For Not Wearing Heels

Guys, can I first say that if this were a requirement within the radio industry, I would in fact be completely and utterly screwed.

I can thankfully say that this is not the case for radio and I'm perfectly okay to be wearing my Nike's, ripped jeans and New Kids on the Block t-shirt with full confidence that I will not get sent home. I can also thankfully tell you that the story that I read and am about to tell you didn't happen in the United States. I believe that if it did happen here, we'd have more than a blog post about it on the Times Union website and there would be a national outcry for gender bias and a new hashtag trending of #AllFeetMatter or something along those lines. Instead, it happened in Britain.

The woman, a temp-worker had showed up for her first day of work wearing a pair of black flats, that came to a point and honestly, looked like a pair of heels, minus the heel. Nicole Thorpe, 27 told the Today Show,

“When I arrived, the supervisor said, ‘Well, you can’t wear those.’ I said, ‘Why not? They’re fine. They’re smart. They’re flat,'” she told TODAY. “And she said, ‘No. We have a policy that all female receptionists have to wear 2- to 4-inch heels. Go out and buy a pair, or else I’m sending you home.’ And I refused, so I was sent home without pay.”

I have to agree with Kristi Gustafson-Barlette in that there must be more to this story, or something is being left out. There has to be, right? I mean, is this a thing? I can understand dressing for the job, based on whatever it may be. But, it's not like the girl was wearing a torn pair of converse. Though, if she worked in radio, they'd be completely acceptable.