A former sales assistant at Harrods is considering making a claim under the Equality Act after alleging that she was forced out of her job for refusing to wear make-up.
Melanie Stark, who had worked at the famous Knightsbridge store for five years, said that the matter had not been mentioned during her first four years in the store but she was then asked to wear make-up and refused. The store then offered her a make-up workshop and she was allegedly told “you can see what you look like with make-up”. Ms Stark said she felt insulted and eventually resigned from her job, though she now has been advised that she may have grounds to sue Harrods if she took the store to an employment tribunal claiming sexual discrimination.
She said: “I know what I look like with make-up. I have used it, though never at work. But I just could not see how, in this day and age, Harrods could take away my right to choose whether to wear it or not.” She claimed that she had been praised for her work in the past and that she had complied with all other aspects of the company’s dress code.
A Harrods spokesperson said that all staff are subject to a dress code and that, while there were discussions with Ms Stark, no action was taken and “she subsequently decided to leave the business of her own accord with no reference made to dress code”.
