Lauren Odes Fired by Orthodox Jews, Told to Tape Her Chest
Lauren Odes, 29, claims that she was fired from her temporary data entry position after being told that her physique was not appropriate for the position. Odes is now filling suit on religious and sexual discrimination grounds.
Odes was employed by the owners of a lingerie shop for the position of a temporary data entry assistant. Odes claims that she was never given a specific dress code and then later told that her attire was offensive.
"When I first started working there, I asked what the dress code was, and I was just told to look around and see what everyone else was wearing," Odes said in a press conference Monday. "So I did. The dress was very casual athletic wear to business attire."
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Odes reported that she was told that she was "too hot" and very "distracting." To ease the situation, Odes claims that she was asked to wear her boyfriend's clothes and go through drastic attempts to alter her natural physique.
"When my supervisors suggested that I tape down my breasts, I asked, 'Are you kidding me?'" Odes said. "The supervisor said, 'Just cover up a little more.'"
The situation spiraled even further out of control when Odes claims that she was first humiliated and then fired. When Odes appeared wearing an outfit that the female supervisor said was offensive, she claims she was then asked to put on one of the stores bath robes in order to cover up.
"She told me to sit at my desk and wear it all day. I felt completely humiliated," Odes said. "She put the bathrobe on me and tied the belt and I returned to my desk wearing it."
Odes was later offered the option to go out and buy a sweater that would cover her ankles. Brought to tears at first, Odes agreed and left to purchase a sweater.
After Odes stepped away from the business, she says the supervisor called her to inform her that she was fired.
"I do not feel an employer has the right to impose their religious beliefs on me when I'm working in a business that's not a synagogue, but sells things with hearts on the female genitals and boy shorts for women that say hot in the buttocks area," Odes told The New York Post.
Odes, with the assistance of her lawyer, has now filed suit against Native Intimates with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
"The treatment was discriminatory, profoundly humiliating and unlawful," lawyer Gloria Allred, who is known for taken high profile cases regarding women's rights, told the publication.
