Can you really be fired for being too hot? That’s what Lauren Odes claims happened to her at a Manhattan lingerie shop – and now she wants retribution.
Two days after being hired last month, a supervisor told Odes that the Orthodox Jewish owners of the business weren’t pleased with her attire. They said her breasts were a “a dangerous distraction.”
“When I was first told that I was too hot and that my breasts were too large, I was shocked,” said Odes, 29. “I thought that I was dressed appropriately every day for my job as a production assistant.”
The bosses really shouldn’t have been all that surprised. Odes, who is from New Jersey, was reportedly wearing a purple minidress with side zippers when she interviewed for the position.
Now Odes has hired celebrity lawyer to the stars Gloria Allred and she’s out for blood.
“She was simply fired for being attractive and for not conforming to the religious strictures imposed by top management,” said Allred.
Odes has already filed a federal complaint, but she also plans to file a lawsuit alleging gender and religious discrimination.
Odes says she was wearing a dress when her female supervisor first said she was too sexy for the job. The next day, she wore a gray tee shirt and black leggings, but the higher-ups still complained.
“‘Lauren, try taping down your breasts to make them appear smaller,’” she says she was told.
The next day, Odes wore a high-waisted black dress and boots, the very same outfit she wore to a press conference yesterday, but that still wasn’t good enough.
Odes said her employers told her to either buy a sweater that comes down to her ankles or cover up in a red bathrobe.
Workers at the lingerie business have so far declined to comment on the situation.
“I am Jewish as well and don’t feel any employer has the right to impose their religious beliefs on me,”
said Odes.
It’s not the first time someone has allegedly been fired for being “too hot.” Remember Debrahlee Lorenzana? She hired Allred for a similar case against Citigroup in 2010, claiming her curves got her axed as well.
“If I could turn back time – I would have not chosen Gloria Allred as my lawyer,” Lorenzana, 35, told the New York Daily News. “The only times I saw her was when the media was there.”
Lorenzana said she sympathizes with Odes’ predicament.
“Nobody should be fired because of their physical appearance,” she said. “I feel sorry for the girl.”
More in the video below.
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- Woman says she was fired for being too busty (nydailynews.com)
- Buxom banker: Allred was playing to the media (nydailynews.com)
- Woman Says She Was Fired for Being Too Busty (abcnews.go.com)
- Lauren Odes, NJ Woman, Fired From Lingerie Store Native Intimates For Being Too Busty [PHOTOS] (ibtimes.com)
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