Ralph Lauren staff sue over expensive uniforms

Shop
assistants at Polo Ralph Lauren store in the US are suing their employer, after
they were forced to buy the brand’s expensive clothes to wear as uniforms.

Staff
said they were made to spend up to half of their annual salaries on the latest
Polo clothing in order to keep their jobs.

The
lawyer representing the shop workers, Patrick Kitchin, said staff were
"captive customers".

"Polo
has created an unfair advantage against other employers by wardrobing," he
said.

Polo
shop assistant Toni Young started the action after spending between $8,000
(£5,145) and $10,000 a year on Polo fashion since she joined the company in
1997.

Young,
who worked in Polo’s San Francisco shop, earned a salary of about $22,000.

Young
wants the company to reimburse her for the money she spent on Polo fashion, and
wants the firm to abolish its uniform policy.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Comments

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

Polo
Ralph Lauren declined to comment on the matter.

By Quentin Reade