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HR practiceDress codes

No promotion for the scantily clad

by Personnel Today 5 Apr 2005
by Personnel Today 5 Apr 2005

A librarian in Boston, in the US, is in court claiming she was deemed too sexy for promotion.

Desiree Goodwin claims her supervisor said she would never be promoted because her colleagues saw her as ‘a pretty girl who wore sexy outfits, low-cut blouses, and tight pants’.

Goodwin claims she has been passed over for 16 jobs at Ivy League college Harvard since 1999. She has two Masters degrees in library science and English lit.

Should you be interested, a course of library science “educates professionals to address the information needs of their community, the nature of information and its uses and supporting technologies through teaching, research, service and leadership”. Simple.

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Guru is surprised by this case in these litigation-happy times in the US. It certainly wouldn’t happen in the UK. Since the Department for Work and Pensions lost a case that said men couldn’t be made to wear ties because it was discriminatory, Guru has been wearing sexy low cut blouses and very tight pants at every opportunity.

The boss is so scared any comment or lack of promotion will breach some employment regulation or other, Guru has had three pay rises already this year, and is fast on his way to the top through this callous use of his bottom.


Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

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Personnel Today
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