Just days after she was employed at a lingerie shop, a woman is suing the company who fired her for being "too hot."
Laura Odes was reportedly told by her boss two days into her new job at Manhattan lingerie store, Native Intimates, that her breasts were too big. You would think that would be a selling point at an undergarment store. But apparently it was the owners of Intimates, Orthodox Jews, who disapproved of the 29-year-old's bust line, which they claimed posed a "dangerous distraction."
Even as she complied to her boss's requests to tape down her breasts and wear loose clothing, Odes was nonetheless fired over the phone a week into her new job. Now she is suing for wrongful dismissal.
“When I was first told that I was too hot and that my breasts were too large, I was shocked," Odes told NY Daily News. "I thought that I was dressed appropriately every day for my job as a production assistant.”
Odes sagely recorded her supervisor's cutting remarks, which included "wear your boyfriend's T-shirt and sweatpants."
Then her boss went one further and suggested Odes wear a red bathrobe, which they provided. When she tried it on, staff mocked her. "It was very shocking, very humiliating. It was a crazy experience, unlike anything I’ve ever been through.”
Odes took her complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
"I understand there are Orthodox Jewish men who may have their views on how a woman should dress and how much she should be covered," she said at a press conference. "But I am Jewish as well and don't feel any employer has the right to impose their religious beliefs on me."
Seeing as Odes wore a purple minidress with side zippers for her job interview, her employers should have known what to expect of her dress sense. To my mind, it's a question of environment. She was working in a lingerie shop, after all, not an office. So what if she dressed like Julia Roberts on the set of Pretty Woman.
Have you ever worn anything inappropriate on the job? Ever asked to tone down your wardrobe? If so, how did you react?
If you've got kids, then chances are you're familiar with the quirky works of author Robert Munsch. And if you're fans of Robert Munsch, then chances are you're also familiar with his illustrator-in-chief, Michael Martchenko. After all, they are to Canadian children's books what Lennon was to McCartney.
Now one half of the artistic duo—Martchenko—is launching a special public art project. Although based in Toronto, the public art exhibit for childhood cancer can be viewed via the web.
In collaboration with Toronto-based charity Childhood Cancer Canada, Martchenko has called upon many of his most colourful characters in a giant, child-friendly artwork to bring to life some of the encouraging words submitted by Canadians from coast to coast.
Sponsored by Brother Canada, Martchenko has lent his talent to raise awareness of the issues facing families living with childhood cancer.
Shame Mother's Day has been and gone, because this would have been one heck of a gift. After all, who doesn't want a nude of their very own PM to—ahem—grace the mantel?
Sadly, you're too late. The Edward Day Gallery has confirmed that Margaret Sutherland's masterpiece of a Stephen Harper nude has just sold for a whopping $5,000. Its Quebec proprietor, not surprisingly, wishes to remain anonymous.
According to HuffPost, Sutherland's inspiration came via the Hans Christian Andersen's fable, Emperor's New Clothes, from which the 2011 painting, "Emperor Haute Couture," derived its name.
The Kingston-based artist points to a feminist subtext "of the single woman amid the faceless suits" in the Tory minority government. "There were very few women in the cabinet and they weren't having an easy time of it," said Sutherland. "Between Helena Guergis and Bev Oda it wasn't going well."
Then there's the Tim Horton's coffee cup being served to the Canuck ruler on a china saucer. And what, pray tell, does the Emperor think of this depiction of power as the infinite corruptor?
His director of communications, Andrew MacDougall, at least, saw the funny side. “We're not impressed," he tweeted. "Everyone knows the PM is a cat person.”
As for the show of flesh, Sutherland openly laughed. "I had to use my imagination. I could have easily changed him from David to Jabba the Hut with a stroke of the brush."
If the painting wasn't enough to put you off, Stephen Lautens's tweet, "So that's where the TimBits went..." will ruin Timmy's for you forever.
Is Sutherland a maverick in the art world? Are political nudes a brave new movement? God, we pray not. How do you feel about seeing your leader in a new light? Squeamish? Giddy? Flushed?
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