A young lady from Edmonton has claimed that she was fired from her job as a Honda saleswoman over an inappropriate outfit, but insists that the outfit in question was the same clothing she wore when she got the job.
Caitlin Bernier, 20, took to social media to tell her story and express her frustration over what she says is an unjust firing.
“I walked into work and sat at my desk where I was immediately met by a female staff member. She had a sweater in her hand and said ‘do you know your shirt is see through? You have to either put this sweater on or go home and change,’” Bernier wrote in a Facebook post.
“She then said that ‘the male managers are uncomfortable with what I was wearing and asked me too (sic) tell you to change or cover up.’ As you can see in the photos, my shirt is not see through. This even happened to be the EXACT outfit I wore the day I was interviewed and hired by the male management,” she continued.
“I then said that I was not going to change since I felt that my outfit was appropriate and have worn the top days prior as well as for my interview and no one had said anything to me,” Bernier added. “I also expressed that I was not going to be told by any male to cover up and follow instruction when I know my outfit is fine just because they are somehow ‘uncomfortable’.”
“I went to the HR lady where she agreed with me that my shirt was not see through and is fine for work. I was told that when the general manager (also male) got into work then we would have a meeting,” she continued. “I ended up going home and asked them to phone me when the GM was in to have a sit down meeting. Hours later at home I received a call from the GM and he said ‘I heard you wore something inappropriate to work and were not following the dress code or instructions when you were told to change, so I am letting you go.’ Keep in mind that he never saw what I was wearing.”
“I feel discriminated against being the only female sales person and not being given an opportunity to expression my opinion to the GM or for him to even see what I was wearing. Working here I have experienced sexually comments from male staff, but my top ‘made the males uncomfortable.’ I am writing this post to show that FEMALE WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION is a real thing!” Bernier concluded.
Her post on Facebook received thousands of shares and comments. Some people were supportive of her, while others agreed with her ex-employer’s decision.
She has since filed a human rights complaint against the company.
Alberta Honda denies her claims of discrimination, and has issued a statement arguing that its office dress code is enforced equally and no employee would be fired for a single violation.
According to the company’s statement, an employee would only be fired after repeated warnings, and the company’s decision to fire someone would “never be based on gender.”
“It’s only if an employee refuses to comply with the dress code when given an opportunity, if they continued to violate the dress code on multiple occasions or if there were other issues surrounding their performance that we would consider taking further action,” the statement reads.
“We have reviewed the situation in question and are confident that our managers dealt with it appropriately given all of the circumstances involved,” the statement concludes.
Bernier is denying that she had ever received any warnings from management in the past, although it appears that her actions that day may have violated the abovementioned refusal to “comply with the dress code when given an opportunity” situation.
While the images that she posted to prove that her shirt isn’t see-through show that it isn’t see-through in artificial light, there is still the question of whether sunlight may have a different effect. Regardless, the shirt is obviously skin-tight, which doesn’t seem professional.
