You Don’t Like Our Dress Code? You’re Fired!

A story that caught my eye this week was about some unpaid interns who were fired en masse for submitting a group proposal protesting the company's "strict" dress code. The situation came to light through an online advice column, Ask A Manager, where one of the interns wrote a letter:

"Even though the division I was hired to work in doesn't deal with clients or customers, there still was a very strict dress code," the (former) intern wrote in the post. "I felt the dress code was overly strict but I wasn't going to say anything, until I noticed one of the workers always wore flat shoes that were made from a fabric other than leather, or running shoes, even though both of these things were contrary to the dress code."

The intern soon learned other interns felt the same way regarding the dress code. After asking managers if they could have some leeway under the dress code, they were told no, despite the other employee being allowed to. So the group rallied together and submitted a proposal to managers and all but one of the intern class signed the petition, which was included with the proposal.

"Our proposal requested that we also be allowed to wear running shoes and non-leather flats, as well as sandals (not flip-flops though) and other non-dress shoes that would fit under a more business casual dress code," the intern wrote. "It was mostly about the footwear, but we also incorporated a request that we not have to wear suits and/or blazers in favor of a more casual, but still professional dress code."

The next day, those who signed the petition were "shocked" after being called into a meeting where they were told as a result of their 'unprofessional' behavior, they were being let go.

After the meeting, the unhappy unemployed interns learned that the worker who was allowed to disobey the dress code was a former soldier who lost her leg and was therefore given permission to wear whatever kind of shoes she could walk in. 

As a management-side labor lawyer, my first thought was: were these interns engaged in protected concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)? Probably not; there is some Board precedent that unpaid staff are not "employees" under the NLRA.

My second thought was that I was pleased to see that a company was requiring adherence to its written dress code policy but also making an accommodation for a person with a disability. There is no point in having a written policy if you do not require employees to follow it. At the same time, a company must be able to work through the interactive reasonable accommodation process and make adjustments to policies or procedures, when necessary.

To read the entire post: http://www.askamanager.org/2016/06/i-was-fired-from-my-internship-for-writing-a-proposal-for-a-more-flexible-dress-code.html