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Karla Gutierrez

Can you imagine being sent home for not wearing high heels? Nicola Thorp, who was hired as a receptionist, was fired on her first day, working for a company called PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in London. She was fired for NOT wearing heels.

BBC reported that she was instructed by her firm Portico to wear high heels or leave. Thorp later shared the experience on her Facebook and launched a new petition, which earned over 100,000 signatures on Friday. Women started pouring out their support on Twitter by taking photos of wearing shoes like sandals or flats to work, vouching for Thorp.

The campaign was launched by the Fawcett Society and was able to earn support from Stella Creasy, a British politician, and many others. Sajid Javid, a Business Secretary for Parliament, stated that women should never be forced to wear heels to work. Under the law in the United Kingdom, companies are able to make female workers wear heels and makeup as a part of their dress code requirements. Thorp stated, “I began my petition against high heels because it is blatant sexism that an employer has the right to impose a discriminatory dress code on women.” After Thorp’s story went viral, PricewaterhouseCoopers stated that it had reviewed its policy and updated it right away by changing its dress code.