Company issues ban on employees wearing underwire bras
The bizarre bra rule left one employee wondering whether it was legal - and the answer might surprise you
Kya Buller
News of a company introducing a policy to ban underwired bras is circulating on the internet and people are not happy.
Having been a young girl once, it's easy to remember people acting as though you'd committed a crime if your bra strap was on show, or makeup being frowned upon.
But usually, you expect these attitudes and behaviours to peter out as you get older - and being guaranteed the ability to wear whatever you like as long as you're not harming anybody.
It turns out that's very much not the case and what women wear is still somewhat being controlled.
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An unnamed female employee in California has shared her experience with the advice column Ask A Manager.
She wrote: “My company just introduced a new company-wide policy that you cannot wear an underwire bra due to setting off an alarm on a metal detector in the entrance of the building. Is this illegal?"
The advice stated: "It’s legal.
"It's actually been litigated in multiple states (and, as far as I know, upheld each time)."
They continued: "So far, these policies seem to be legal.
"They’re also really, really problematic for many women. For people with larger chests, bras without underwire often don’t provide sufficient support. And having to replace a bunch of bras overnight could be incredibly pricey; bras are expensive, especially in larger sizes."
Aiman-Smith and Marcy, a law firm, stated: "Businesses are always allowed to set their dress codes based on the needs of the business itself.
“The California state court has made it clear that some gendered separation in dress code is acceptable, but only if the difference doesn’t put a greater burden of effort and time on one gender or the other."
Despite it being legal, the contentious rule has been at the centre of many lawsuits.
In 2019, many women attorneys that worked at a Missouri prison and were banned from wearing underwired bras to see their clients as they set off the metal detectors, filed a lawsuit.
The attorneys shared that they were told to remove their underwire bras but weren’t then allowed to send them through the metal detector and wear them again once they were deemed to be safe, and they stated that male employees were permitted to take off their belts and send them through the metal detectors.
Ultimately, the Jackson County Legislature paid the attorneys $405,000 in settlements.
The advice on Ask A Manager concludes: "Hopefully your coworkers can band together as a group and push back. Point out that people can be wanded if they set off an alarm, and that loads of other places with metal detectors handle this just fine without dictating people’s bra choice."