Intern Starts A Petition At The Office For A More Comfortable, Relaxed Dress Code...Every Intern Who Signed It Immediately Fired
Reason – Does a university education really prepare students to succeed in the workplace? The testimony of one recent undergraduate, who was fired from his [Ed. Note: not sure why they think it was written by a guy. I would assume it was a girl, from talking about flats, to writing to a female advice columnist on the internet] internship after fomenting organized opposition to the company’s dress code, should give pause.
The anonymous millennial wrote to advice blogger Alison Green for guidance. He said that he felt “the dress code was overly strict,” but wasn’t going to complain until his sense of injustice was triggered:
I was able to get a summer internship at a company that does work in the industry I want to work in after I graduate. 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. 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.
I spoke with my manager about being allowed some leeway under the dress code and was told this was not possible, despite the other person being allowed to do it. I soon found out that many of the other interns felt the same way, and the ones who asked their managers about it were told the same thing as me. We decided to write a proposal stating why we should be allowed someone leeway under the dress code. We accompanied the proposal with a petition, signed by all of the interns (except for one who declined to sign it) and gave it to our managers to consider. 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. 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, all of us who signed the petition were called into a meeting where we thought our proposal would be discussed. Instead, we were informed that due to our “unprofessional” behavior, we were being let go from our internships. We were told to hand in our ID badges and to gather our things and leave the property ASAP.
[Editor’s Note: HAHAHAHA]
We were shocked. The proposal was written professionally like examples I have learned about in school, and our arguments were thought out and well-reasoned. We weren’t even given a chance to discuss it. The worst part is that just before the meeting ended, one of the managers told us 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. You can’t even tell, and if we had known about this we would have factored it into our argument.
I have never had a job before (I’ve always focused on school) and I was hoping to gain some experience before I graduate next year. I feel my dismissal was unfair and would like to ask them to reconsider but I’m not sure the best way to go about it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
…
Such a feel-good American story as we head into July 4th weekend. I mean I don’t even have anything to add to this story other than how god damn happy it makes me. The letter and my bolding speaks for itself. Beaming from ear to ear. Just picturing the look on this intern’s face when they plopped down in that nice leather chair in the conference room expecting a healthy debate about their proposal, and instead was told to pack their shit and get the fuck out. But…but…I saw on the internet that if you don’t like something, you can just start a petition and get it changed? When I was in college if we just skipped class and protested something hard enough we got our way? If you feel triggered by a microaggression you can publicly whine about it and get it fixed? Are you…are you telling me it doesn’t work like that in the real world? Too fucking funny.