A Bosnian Muslim waitress has demanded compensation from the London bar where she worked over a red dress she was asked to wear, British media reported Thursday. Fata Lemes, 33, told an employment tribunal that she felt forced to wear the sleeveless dress with a low neckline and an open back, thought the Rocket bar was run like a "sex club" and filed for 20,000 pounds ($31,000 dollars) in compensation.Lemes described the dress as "physically revealing and openly sexual," according to the Daily Telegraph.
| " It was indecent. If you put this dress on you might as well be naked. I did not want men looking at my body " Fata Lemes |
According to reports, Lemes said she originally began working at the bar in May wearing loose-fitting black clothes to work, but after about a week, she was told to wear the red dress. After trying it on, she refused to wear it, and said she was immediately fired.
Lemes also told the employment tribunal that on on her second evening at the bar, two guests told her they were looking for a woman to spend the night with.
Spring and Greene, the restaurant group that owns the Rocket bar, rejected the claims, however, and said the dress had been chosen by two other waitresses to give a "summery" look. The company also reportedly produced a photograph of the dress, worn by another waitress, with the Rocket's manager arguing that the color of the dress was chosen to match that of the bar.
The other waitress also modeled the dress for the employment tribunal and said she felt "completely comfortable" wearing it, according to the Telegraph.
The employment tribunal is expected to deliver its judgment on the case next year.