Woman walks out in the middle of shift after being dress coded by boss: 'shorts are too short'

Once upon a time, in a world where everything made sense, people implemented dress codes to encourage functionality and context-appropriate clothing. However, now it seems like dress codes turn unreasonable whenever the authorities wish to. A dress code becomes a lot more important than the job itself. Recently, a woman revealed she walked out of work after her boss imposed a dress code. Morgan—who goes by @uglyfatg0thh on TikTok—shared that a new manager had recently started working at her place of employment and commented on the outfit she had chosen to work in, which she had worn to work multiple times with no issue.

"I walked out of a shift today for the first time ever in my life," Morgan stated in the video. She explained that her company hired a new manager about seven months ago. Since then, nearly 90% of the employees have quit because no one likes her as the new boss. "Anyway, I wore a pair of shorts to work today because the air [in our store] is not properly controlled and it gets hot," she continued. "It gets sweltering hot in that store," Morgan mentioned that, in addition to the store being extremely hot, she is running around throughout her shift and will overheat if she does not dress appropriately. Morgan chooses to wear shorts to work to avoid this. Showing a photo of the shorts, they were mid-thigh and not what would be considered provocative.

When Morgan arrived at work wearing the same pair of shorts she'd always worn, her manager approached her and told her she needed to go home and change because her "shorts were way too short." Morgan was told that the shorts should be an "inch above the knee," to which she replied that she didn't own any shorts that long. "I've never had a problem before. If I have to leave the store for a 5-hour shift to come back with different pants. I'm not coming back for my shift today," Morgan recalled telling her boss.

Moreover, she argued that she doesn't see the point in changing out of her shorts because she's worn them before with no problems and it doesn't prevent her from doing her job efficiently. Morgan also revealed that she was planning on giving her two-week notice anyway. "Shorts don't affect the job. I've worn these 1,000 times around her. She's never said anything," Morgan remarked. "I'm not in f***ing high school. I'm 23 years old, I know how to dress for my job if I've been doing it for three years."

Dress codes can serve a legitimate purpose in some situations; however, managers must develop dress code policies that are fair, inclusive, and free of gender bias while also considering individual rights, diversity, and personal expression into account. When a TikTok user @arabellathesupervillain suggested, "Don’t give her a letter, just leave! Two-week notices only benefit the employer, not the employee. If she won't accommodate you, don't accommodate her," Morgan replied, "The thing that sucks is I wouldn't start my new job until the beginning of July and I need the money, but I'm going to do a one-week."

She further shared, "Literally, it was the one day I had a mid-shift instead of opening or closing, so there wasn't even a need for me to be there." People shared their experiences with ridiculous dress codes. "I had a manager do this to me for a sleeveless shirt I told him to show me in writing where the dress code I couldn't wear it, as he couldn't," shared @firewolf1800.

"When I was a cashier, we had to wear khaki pants. I bought a new pair and they said I had to change because it wasn't khaki enough. I never came back," commented @jamesthejust2. "I had a manager come up to me and was like, you need to put your hair up my hair doesn't touch my shoulders there's nothing to put up," added @bambi_rae_. After a certain point, it probably is less about dress code and more about power play.