![]() ![]() She had received good support from HMV throughout, she said. The next day, she was put to work in the stockroom, away from view. In a letter to Harrods at the time she said: "To be told that one's face is inadequate is extremely degrading." She had a commendation for customer services, had been awarded 94% in a "mystery shop", on which unsuspecting staff were monitored, and met every other requirement in HMV's music section. Harrods had not sought to enforce the code until last August when, after a "floor walk" by senior managers, she was sent home for refusing to wear it. Stark said she had been given a copy of the dress code when she joined HMV at Harrods aged 19, and had been given store approval after an interview during which she did not wear any makeup. Of the dress code, he said "custom and practice would suggest that her contract has changed over the years to allow her to not wear makeup". "On the facts, she performed her role well for five years without makeup, so it is clearly not a valid prerequisite for her role." Lawrence Davies, director of Equal Justice solicitors, said she might have a claim under the Equality Act 2010. ![]() One legal expert said Stark could have grounds to sue Harrods. "I was happy there, but I've been driven out." Last week she resigned rather than comply with the code after working at the store for five years, three of them part-time while a philosophy, religion and ethics student at King's College London, and the last two years full-time after completing her masters. I would look like a different person to me. "Make up can change your features completely, especially if I was to wear all of what they were asking. "But it's not like wearing black trousers, or a black shirt. Stark had complied with all other aspects of the dress code. But I just could not see how, in this day and age, Harrods could take away my right to choose whether to wear it or not." I don't understand how they think it is OK to say that.", she said. Basically, it was implying it would be an improvement. When she refused she was offered a makeup workshop and told, 'You can see what you look like with makeup', she said. ![]() The two-page "ladies" dress code stipulates: "Full makeup at all time: base, blusher, full eyes (not too heavy), lipstick, lip liner and gloss are worn at all time and maintained discreetly (please take into account the store display lighting which has a 'washing out' effect)." Stark, based in the HMV department in Harrods, said she had been described by one manager as among the best of their employees and worked without makeup for four years, before being asked to comply with the store's strict dress code. On two occasions she was sent home on another she was sent to work in the stockroom. Melanie Stark, 24, said her battle with the Knightsbridge store left her "exhausted, stressed and upset". ![]()
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