Her bosses wore the same trainers, but only she got fired. She served up the perfect response — in court

The first years in the professional world can be incredibly challenging for any new employee. As a fresher, when we try to adapt to the expectations of the organization, we might encounter unexpected hurdles and find ourselves at the center of backlash and criticism. Something similar happened with Elizabeth Benassi, a 20-year-old woman who was fired from her job for her shoes. It may seem unreal and bizarre, doesn't it? But in reality, the young woman was working at Maximus UK Services in 2022, where she encountered the ugly side of corporate culture. According to a report in The Tribune, Benassi's former manager, Ishrat Ashraf, strongly criticized her at work for her choice of footwear.

It so happened that Benassi had worn trainers to her workplace, being oblivious to her then-company's strict dress code. Ironically, she shared that other employees wore similar footwear but were never confronted. The outlet further reported that although all her colleagues were young and were mostly in their twenties, Benassi was the youngest in her office. Joining the company at just 18 years old was difficult for her, as she shared that she was often excluded from the group and was micromanaged. After being fired from her job just after three months, the young woman, now 20, took her former company to the employment tribunal in Croydon, where the judge found her bosses guilty. Additionally, Benassi was awarded compensation of £29,187 ($37,809) at the tribunal. 

"This was a breach of the dress code, although she was not aware of it. Ms. Ashraf spoke to her about it straight away, and Ms. Benassi apologized," Eoin Fowell, Employment Judge, revealed, as quoted by The Daily Mail. However, even after the woman apologized, things unnecessarily escalated. She wasn't happy with how she was confronted and decided to discuss this with her former manager. In her email, she wrote, "This morning you mentioned that I am not allowed to wear trainers to work. Despite not being aware of this, as I have never worn trainers to work before, I apologized for this, and you rolled your eyes. I have now realized that I am not the only one wearing trainers today, and I have not seen anyone receive the same chat that I have." But at this point, Ashraf had already informed Operations Manager Abdul Ali about the whole incident.

Not only that, Benassi informed the judge about various incidents where she was not taken seriously by her company, mostly because of her age. 'I didn't want to be treated differently, or as I had put it, 'as the baby of the group,'" she said. Meanwhile, when the tribunal confronted Benassi's company over the alleged complaint, they said she was fired because of poor performance within three months at a probationary review stage. However, the judge concluded that Benassi was unfairly terminated from her job without any satisfactory explanation. On a related note, when an individual who goes by u/blue_leaves987 on Reddit shared the shocking story on the platform, Benassi received overwhelming support from the netizens. 

For instance, u/legrenabeach commented, "As if wearing a less comfortable shoe somehow makes you a better employee. Magically. Companies should bloody stop this dress code nonsense and realize we live in the 21st century." Similarly, u/dingdingding888 wrote, "Good for her standing her ground at that age. Ageism exists at work, and as someone who looks young, I often get tested." u/secret_account07 asked, "That’s weird. How are they unprofessional? I’ve seen lawyers in court wear those with a suit lol. Better on the body than dress shoes. If she was wearing flip-flops or Air Force Ones, I’d kind of get it. But how are those unprofessional?"