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.

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Polo
Ralph Lauren declined to comment on the matter.

By Quentin Reade