Discrimination in the workplace comes in all forms, and people do get fired for mundane reasons. A recent workplace incident in London serves as a prime example of unjust firing as the worker claims that she was let go for being “too good looking.”
Emma Hulse spoke with the Evening Standard and said that she was sent home from her freelancing shift at a London TV company by a manager who told her that she “should be on a catwalk.”
“We were supposed to finish at 6 p.m. and I got there for 9:30 a.m. and when I got there this other runner started explaining to me what I should do,” said Hulse. “Then they send me on a run. Then my agent text me that I’m no longer required.”
The 24-year-old said that she was only five minutes into her shift when the manager told her to leave. Hulse detailed her conversation with the Company Unit TV line manager, who asked her if she was a model. She added that while she wore a bit of makeup, she didn’t think that she looked inappropriate for the job.
“I was wearing a lipstick but from my perspective I was not inappropriate,” said Hulse. “I was wearing a shirt and trousers. I really didn’t think I looked inappropriate.”
On her firing, the worker thinks that perhaps the company “employs plain looking people” and that she was likely “a distraction.”
Company Unit TV owner Adam Luckwell told the Standard that they have dismissed the employee who was allegedly involved in the incident. The manager is said to have worked there for only three months before he was let go.
“We felt he was a bad fit with us and some of the things he was doing was not in line with the company’s policy,” said Luckwell.
Back in 2013, a similar incident was reported in the United States, but things didn’t turn out too well for the dental assistant who was fired for being “too attractive.” According to Culture Map Houston, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in favor of the dentist who fired his assistant, saying that he had the right to fire her because she was a “threat” to his marriage.
For more, check out Jobs & Hire’s report on former models who detailed their experience working for Trump Models.
