newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM

Lauren Odes, 29, of Manalapan came to an interview for a job at a Manhattan lingerie company wearing a purple mini-dress with side zippers.

What they saw was what they got. Odes claims she was fired from her job with the company because she was “too hot” for the office.

According to the New York Daily News, two days after she was hired, a female supervisor told Odes that Native Intimates owners were not happy with her choice of dress. The next day Odes wore a gray T-shirt and black leggings with rain boots, but her employers were not satisfied.

Odes claimed she was told to tape down her breasts, and was given a choice of wardrobe: a sweater that reaches her ankles or covered up in a bathrobe. Co-workers laughed at her in the bathrobe, and Odes says she was fired while shopping for another outfit.

Odes took the position that “we should not be judged by the size of our breasts or the shape of our body.” According to Reuters, she said her wardrobe was acceptable for a service that sells "thongs with hearts in the female genital area and boy shorts for women that say 'hot' in the buttocks."

An unidentified male worker said Odes’ choice of dress was “not appropriate.” About the store selling lingerie, he said, according to the New York Post, “It’s what we sell, but it’s not the work environment.”

The International Business Times reported that Odes filed a gender and religious discrimination suit with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in New York. The owners of Native Intimates are of the Orthodox Jewish faith.

Odes’ lawyer is Gloria Allred.