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He got fired because he was better dressed than the Boss?

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A friend of mine recently got fired even though his performance at work was just fine. He was the best dressed person at the office, in his imposing bespoke double breasted or three piece suits, always wearing a pocket square, a seven fold tie and bespoke shirts from T&A as well as some highly polished Lobb brogues. In fact at meetings clients often confused him with the head of the company and thought that his Boss was merely his assistant.

Nevertheless his performance was excellent and he signed more contracts than any other employee.

A few weeks ago his Boss asked him to come see him, made him sit down and told him that he didn't appreciate the way he dressed and that it was making him personally feel uncomfortable.

Since he was within the rules of the company dress code my friend ignored his Boss' request to dress down and two weeks later he received a letter telling him that he was getting fired, no clear reason was mentioned.


Now do you think this is fair? Should someone not be able to dress as they please because it hurts some guy's ego?
 

KObalto

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This wouldn't have happened if he settled for Brioni and Charvet.
 

bourbonbasted

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Since he was within the rules of the company dress code my friend ignored his Boss' request to dress down and two weeks later he received a letter telling him that he was getting fired, no clear reason was mentioned.


2) is this a another wight'esque sounding board masquerading as a naive question, again.


And also, your friend is an idiot. If your boss says you're too dressed up, you're too dressed up. Is it stupid? Perhaps. But insecurities exist. As do notions of what a company and its employees are trying to communicate with their clothing. Clearly the clients were picking up on what he was trying to communicate with his style of dress just as much as his boss was.
 
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othertravel

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Strange situation. Hope it works out for him.
 

David Reeves

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A friend of mine recently got fired even though his performance at work was just fine. He was the best dressed person at the office, in his imposing bespoke double breasted or three piece suits, always wearing a pocket square, a seven fold tie and bespoke shirts from T&A as well as some highly polished Lobb brogues. In fact at meetings clients often confused him with the head of the company and thought that his Boss was merely his assistant.

Nevertheless his performance was excellent and he signed more contracts than any other employee.

A few weeks ago his Boss asked him to come see him, made him sit down and told him that he didn't appreciate the way he dressed and that it was making him personally feel uncomfortable.

Since he was within the rules of the company dress code my friend ignored his Boss' request to dress down and two weeks later he received a letter telling him that he was getting fired, no clear reason was mentioned.


Now do you think this is fair? Should someone not be able to dress as they please because it hurts some guy's ego?


The guys a prick for firing him over that but if you have a boss or work for someone else I think you have to tow the line. He should have taken on board what was said to him in those two weeks by not doing that he was on a collision course for confrontation.
 

Blackhood

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Its great to see that Wright is back.
 
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Usually employees are not dressed well enough. In my opinion the Boss should just have started dressing better himself, he certainly had the money to do so.

If I was a CEO and my employees all turned up in bespoke clothes, charvet ties and what not I'd be very happy I think.
 

KObalto

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bourbonbasted

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Usually employees are not dressed well enough. In my opinion the Boss should just have started dressing better himself, he certainly had the money to do so.

If I was a CEO and my employees all turned up in bespoke clothes, charvet ties and what not I'd be very happy I think.


Bespoke is one thing. I don't think any bosses would object to well-fitting, smart clothes. And I know even less would have any concept of what bespoke actually means. What I do think is your friend is an idiot for wearing polarizing fits like DBs and three pieces when no one else was. I also assume, since you mention him favoring British tailoring, that the fit and silhouette of the looks was quite severe or even intimidating, as many British houses look to replicate a sharp figure and powerful lines.

Also, I think A LOT of bosses in the world would have serious questions about someone spending so much of their money on clothes (if they were to wear only Saville Row suits). Especially if that person is a younger employee. It begs questions of their money management and then that leads to how you manage the company's money.
 
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add911_11

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Perhaps your friend could have an action under the employment law? I am no expert on this but since no clear reason was mentioned, your friend might be able to argued the unjust redundancy and ask court for an injunction?

Even the employer had asked your friend to dress down, the scope of 'dressing down' is pretty large, I could have claimed wearing a less colourful tie means 'dressing down', while keeping everything else. And really if your friend was a top performer, your boss should really keep a good asset in his company

Or put it that way, since your friend is good in his job, surely he can use this as a advantage for his future job interview

That is just my uneducated guess.....

Or did I put too much time on a troll thread?
 

add911_11

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Bespoke is one thing. I don't think any bosses would object to well-fitting, smart clothes. And I know even less would have any concept of what bespoke actually means. What I do think is your friend is an idiot for wearing polarizing fits like DBs and three pieces when no one else was. I also assume, since you mention him favoring British tailoring, that the fit and silhouette of the looks was quite severe or even intimidating, as many British houses look to replicate a sharp figure and powerful lines.
Also, I think A LOT of bosses in the world would have serious questions about someone spending so much of their money on clothes (if they were to wear only Saville Row suits). Especially if that person is a younger employee. It begs questions of their money management and then that leads to how you manage the company's money.


Really? I would have thought luxury cars/holidays would be more accountable rather than clothes
 

GoldenTribe

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spam reported
 

pnutpug

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Most bosses have bosses. If I were that boss's boss and found out that a top performer got canned for his suits, there'd be a new boss. If the OP's friend is willing to go public, it would make for a great lawsuit--something along First Amendment grounds--that would likely get picked up by the media, resulting in deserved public humiliation for the boss and perhaps a job offer from a more enlightened company.
 

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