Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.
Sylva Stoel, a former JCPenney employee based in South Dakota, quit her job last week after she was told to go home and change when she showed up wearing JCPenney shorts that she had bought from the retailer. Her boss told her that the shorts were "too revealing," even though she says they were bought from JCPenney's own career department where all of the work-appropriate clothing is stocked.
"I didn't expect it to happen, but I wasn't surprised—there's been a lot of talk about unfair dress codes affecting women, and it was in the back of my mind that this could happen," Stoel told People after the incident.
According to JCPenney, employee dress code prohibits shorts of any kind. "This policy applies to both male and female associates," JCPenney told People. "We have reached out to the associate who blogged about this policy, but she has not returned our telephone calls thus far." Stoel says she wasn't informed of that policy during orientation.
Boss sent me home for wearing "too revealing" shorts that I bought from the store I work at in the career section. pic.twitter.com/vrAnN4beC2
— Sylva (@queenfeminist) July 24, 2015