Kicked out of work for wearing kilt

[B. Somm]

OK, as requested a bit about me........and the job

It is a small bookstore, we get around 100 customers a day, do about 1500, and only have 2 employees working most of the time. Its in a strip mall, so that will give you an idea on the size. I have worked there for 4 months, am the 6 senior person out of 15 employees when it comes to how long we have all worked there, this guy is new, around a month, and is going to be replacing the assistant manager.

Yep, I'd go to the manager who granted you permission and explain what happened. After that, I'd consider going to the owner of the bookstore and letting them know what kind of bigoted person he/she is about to have as an assistant manager! Make sure you're calm about it and let them know that you're not trying to start any trouble, just trying to give them a heads up on what's going on and hopefully help them avoid any problems down the road. (How does this 'major' react when "tranny" types or other alternative styles of customers come through the doors?)

BTW, what kind of bookstore is it? I'm assuming it's not a 'chain' store, but a privately owned store. I would think a kilted employee would actually be a good thing in a bookstore!

As for the "uniform", you ought to ask the higher ups if a nice black traditional type kilt (not a utility kilt), a white polo shirt or shirt w/ tie and black kilt hose with your nice boots/shoes would work. Then you could be kilted all the time! (Do they specify that the "black below" has to be p@nts??)

Please keep us posted on how things go!

B.

[wildrover]

Wow.

#1, it's a f$cking bookstore, not the damn IRS, for crissakes. I half-expect to see kilts, dreads, dashikis, flip flops, grass skirts, multiple piercings, black berets, Che Guevara t-shirts, and good lord only knows what else, in a book store...including the employees...who I generally identify by the name tag, not the khakis and polo shirt. Everybody and their 3rd cousin wears khakis and a polo shirt, to abhor that stamp of commonality is an obvious sign of independent thought and a stylistic breath of fresh air, to say the least. Is this a specialty bookstore of some sort? Perhaps, a religiously conservative bookstore (no offense intended to religious bookstores, just trying to understand if there's a pre-existing mindset or bias)? Bookstores are places of learning...storehouses of knowledge...not fonts of idiocy. 'Irish Day'? Really? Sounds to me like you were professionally dressed, and conservatively kilted.

#2, the new guy is hassling the veteran model employee. There's simply something wrong with that situation.

#3, if I'd been in the same store, kilted, and heard the guy call you a 'transy' for being in a kilt, I'd have been in his f&cking face. Them's fighting words, one jackass calling one guy in a kilt a 'transy' is calling all of us 'transies' (I assume that is the correct pluralization of an incorrectly jargonized pejorative term), I don't look kindly on it, and frankly I dare the guy to let the 1B Scots Guards know he thinks they're a bunch of 'transies'.

#4...Riverkilt's suggestion, Rocky's way.

You outdressed the guy, and you went over his head. BFD. In the modern professional world, we all work as a team, and we are generally not our brothers' keepers. Is his job description to hassle the other employees, or to organize and delegate?...in other words, is he a foreman, or a manager?

Does this bookstore have a harassment policy? (they should, IIRC it is required.)

I might also suggest you schedule a meeting with the boss and the new guy, wearing the same clothing, carrying your ring-on-the-backhand apology letter. That way the boss knows what happened, you can call out transy-boy in a professional setting (as opposed to getting your buddies together and dragging him out back in the alley like he deserves, which is frowned upon these days), and since you'll be dressed the part, the FNG can't claim you were a 'transy' swishing around in a skirt.

I personally wouldn't wear a kilt to work...not really appropriate in my setting, and I'd be sitting on my pleats all day (yep, I am a "mushroom"). But a bookstore? Like a library, church, campus, coffee shop, etc...that's fair game. I cannot think of a single bookstore, even the Christian ones, where I would think of a kilted gentleman as being out of place.

'Transies' indeed. He crossed the line, I give a rat's backside what branch he was in, or for how long.

-Sean

[starbkjrus]

So I wore my kilt in for Tartan Day today, as my boss had given me permission a couple weeks ago, all of my coworkers know I wear a kilt, and seem to be OK with it, until today......I walked in, clocked in, and 10 minutes later I get a tap on the shoulder, and turn around to find the shift manager standing there. He tells me "I have 3 words for you, asinine, idiotic, and unprofessional. This is not Jr. high, this is not show and tell, we are big boys here, and we are here to work, I dont care if it's Irish Day, I don't care if you are a transy, but when you come to work, you will wear this uniform, or you will be released. You have reflected badly on me, my judgment and position, you have embarrassed me and the other employees, and you have reflected badly on the professionalism of this job. If you have any sense of decency and maturity about you will be go home and change into proper attire."

Needless to say, I changed, rather than cause a huge problem.......was pretty disappointed though, the boss 2 levels above him said I could wear it, and yet he threatened to fire me right there........

Nobody and I mean NOBODY speaks to me in that manner. HIS job would be in jepoardy.

[Lyle1]

Nobody and I mean NOBODY speaks to me in that manner. HIS job would be in jepoardy.

I agree. I personally don't think that wearing or not wearing a kilt the real problem or issue, and I would not address the kilt when approaching management. The real problem to address is the manner in which the immediate supervisor spoke to the employee, including the specific words that were used. This guy is a major jerk (pun intended) who obviously has not transitioned well from the military to the civilian sector. Management needs to be aware that this guy has a problem before he treats a customer the in the same manner.

[Nighthawk]

Alright, heard back from my HR friend. This is what she had to say:

"The transvestite comment is something that can be reported to the EEOC. If he goes to EEOC.gov he can report any "harassment" on religion, sexual harassment, national origin if he feels he's being treated differently based on any of that. Obviously, when everything's said and done with that, he probably won't want to work there any more so that would be the first thing he needed to decide on. If he didn't want to take it that far though, my first hand advice would be to go to the supervisor that approved it and talk to him about the situation and go from there."

So for what it's worth... Oh yeah, I should mention that she no longer works for the company that she and I worked at- she did more for us than she did for management...

[ForresterModern]

I am an employed physician in a large medical system. I am the boss of my department, but I still have several different bosses I have to report to and whose doctrines I have to abide by. I wear the kilt to work a few times per month on weekdays when I do not anticipate either direct patient contact (coodies, you know) or a major administrative or board meeting I have to attend, as well as about half the time I work weekends. Never and issue, and if there were my direct boss has already said he would support me to the fullest extent of the written guidelines for dress. Most days I am in khakis and a golf shirt anyway, so a nicer shirt and lovely kilt, sometimes with a tie and tweed jacket/waistcoat, is certainly a step up from the norm.

Other than specific uniform requirements, potentially physically dangerous work situations, and highly specific dress codes, I cannot imagine a modern workplace with any serious problem with someone wearing a kilt to work. Would that same manager have had a problem with a female employee wearing a similar kilt/skirt to her work if hers was the same position and responsibility as yours? I seriously doubt it.

j

[gordontaos]

It seems to me that you have been belittled and defamed by a manager in your company. Since this is a minmum wage job, who cares how many feathers you ruffle. Anyway, if they fire you, you get unemployment! Finally, if they fire you, they cannot tell other prospective employers the cause of the firing.
I am a fighter, and this is one situation where you can probably ultimately win, through the use of cunning and guile.
As many others have stated, check out the company policies about non discrimination.
If they are in your favor, register a formal complaint.
If not, register a complaint with the top manager against the lower manager.
If not, go to the EEOC and file a complaint. Might this be discrimination based on National Origin? Was this situation caused because you were celebrating a holiday proclaimed by President Bush in 2008? Did your manager demean you by questioning your sexual orientation? Did your manager demean others of a different sexual orientation? Was your manager discriminating against you based upon national origin or sexual orientation in violation of federal law?
Who cares about that crummy job. Have fun with this situation.

[Riverkilt]

Aye on approaching HR...if there is any.

It was the HR director who told me about the grievance process at my agency and she also pointed out the time deadline and encouraged me to file the grievance.

Upper managers need to keep their lower managers in line. Turns out I was doing her a favor by filing the grievance.

Was a victory in that the anti-kilt boss (aren't there bigger things to worry about in this business clime?) granted the grievance with the kind words, "Wear whatever the (Fword) you want!" And I do.

[Scotcop]

I had showed the store manager a color photograph of m ensembles, she had picked out the one I wore, I had a white shirt combo in the portfolio.
Yes, the is a Christian bookstore, and its part of a chain.

[Kilted in Maine]

I had showed the store manager a color photograph of m ensembles, she had picked out the one I wore, I had a white shirt combo in the portfolio.
Yes, the is a Christian bookstore, and its part of a chain.

Thanks for clarifying that!

I stand corrected!