JCPenney Sent an Employee Home for Wearing JCPenney Shorts That Were ''Too Revealing''

Sylva Stoel sparks a discussion about gender-specific dress code on Twitter following the incident

By Bruna Nessif Jul 29, 2015 1:31 AMTags
J.C. Penney EmployeeTwitter

Hm, well this is interesting.

A now-former JCPenney employee said she was sent home from work for wearing shorts that were apparently "too revealing," but here's the kicker—she bought the shorts in the store's career style section!

"I was at work for about 10 minutes before he approached me," Sylva Stoel, 17, of Sioux Falls, S.D., told Today. "He asked if anyone talked to me about dress code at orientation."

After he reportedly asked her how long it would take to go home and change, she quit on the spot, Stoel said. "I bought [the shorts] thinking they were pretty professional," she added. "They didn't show anything other than my legs, which I don't think is too provocative."

Stoel posted a photo of her work outfit to illustrate what was deemed inappropriate for work, and although her outfit is technically not dress code, according to the report, she explains it was never discussed during orientation, and it was the perfect ammunition to launch a heated discussion about female dress code in the workplace on Twitter.

The teenager, whose Twitter handle is appropriately @queenfeminist, posted the following:

"It's always been an issue, but the Internet is making women feel like they can express their opinion," Stoel said. "We have a huge community of feminists who will share it and give it validation. What we're doing isn't wrong, it's society that is wrong."