A plus-size woman has revealed how she quit her job after her boss told her to 'cover her stomach' over text.
Abigayle Canterbury, from the US, started working for a retailer last month and was 'under the impression' she could wear a crop top with jeans after noticing colleagues dressed in similar attire.
But less than three weeks into her new job, she was left upset after she was ‘dress-coded’ by her manager, who told her the business owner requested she dress in 'something nicer' and in particular, 'cover her stomach' because he thought her outfit was inappropriate. Watch how it happened here:
The 22-year-old said she ended up handing in her resignation because she believed she was singled out after realising none of her 'petite' size co-workers were given any dress code.
“I’m in rage,” Abigayle said in a now-viral TikTok video. “I got a text message from my manager, basically saying the business owner saw what I was wearing, and he wanted to tell me to ‘cover the stomach’.
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“If they had a dress code in the first place, they should have told me that when I started.
“But based on the things that my co-workers were wearing, it was very obvious that we did not.”
Reading out her manager’s exact message, Abigayle added: "Hey the business owner talked to me yesterday about your clothes.
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"He said please dress something nicer and cover the stomach. Thank you. Just cover all your body that's what he means."
Abigayle then explained that she asked her manager to clarify the issue and mentioned that she "didn't know it was a problem".
“So no crop tops, got it. But when he says, ‘nicer’, what does that mean exactly? I just try to dress comfortable for work,” she said.
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“So does he want me to dress like... really nice? Or overall is it just the crop tops? Just making sure I’m understanding.”
Her manager responded, “Just cover all your body, that’s what he means.”
Understandably upset by the comments, she later asked her colleague, who she claimed were dressed in clothes that were deemed ‘inappropriate’ for her to wear, if they have had the same dress code issue and they both said 'no'.
After coming to the conclusion that there were double standards at play, Abigayle revealed she handed in her resignation and told her boss how she felt.
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“I really liked the job, but I had to quit,” she said. “Not only did the text message caught me off guard but it hurt my feelings.
“They acted so empathetic about it, they acted like, ‘Oh my god, we can’t believe that happened and we’re sorry'.”
Abigayle had another talk with her manager and felt that she was 'singled out' due to the unfair treatment she received.
Her experience sparked a debate in the comments, with many saying the business owner was being “ridiculous” while others accused him of 'discrimination' or 'fatphobia'.
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Abigayle thanked everyone for their support, adding: “I’m glad that the other girls were able to dress how they like, I simply wanted the same.”
Lisa McLoughlin