A woman has claimed she was sent home from work by human resources because her office attire was too “revealing”. Now, the internet has defended the worker by claiming the HR worker was “jealous” of her outfit.
Marie Dee, who goes by @notmariedee on TikTok, recently posted a video of the HR violation that allegedly led her to being sent home. In the TikTok video, which has more than 27m views, the 28-year-old is seen wearing a black, midi bodycon dress with short-sleeves.
“Guys, it happened again. I’m getting sent home for my outfit,” the text overlay read. “This time the HR girl approached me. I’m about to ask her.”
As she filmed herself confronting the HR representative, the specialist is heard saying: “I’m sorry, you still can’t wear that. It’s way too revealing and distracting.”
“It’s distracting?” Marie asked, to which the HR rep replied: “Very.”
TikTok users were shocked that Marie’s simple black outfit was deemed too revealing, and took to the comments section to share their thoughts on the supposed dress code violation.
“You look stunning!” one person wrote.
“That looks like regular corporate attire to me,” said someone else.
“I’m an HR leader and I think your outfit is professional and polished!” a third user said.
A number of TikTokers also believed that the HR employee was simply “jealous” of Marie’s outfit, and sent her home in retaliation.
“Please. You look amazing, sounds like jealousy,” one person wrote.
“I think she’s jealous. You look beautiful and completely professional,” another user said.
Speaking to The Independent, Marie explained that her female co-worker had “constantly” been making comments about her outfits before she filmed the incident for TikTok. Initially, Marie said she was both shocked but also amused when the HR rep called her dress unprofessional.
“I am quite used to receiving criticism, so I argued with her each time. At the end of the day, this is my family’s business and her comments do not affect me because I have the support of everyone else in the office,” she told us.
However, Marie said she was “surprised” to see so much support from the comments section, considering she is used to people criticising her outfits or looks. “The support in the video was a very pleasant surprise!” she said.
Following the incident, Marie posted a second video, in which she tested the theory that the human resources employee was jealous. To do so, she wore a different dress and presented it to the male HR rep in the office.
“Let’s test the jealousy theory,” she said in the follow-up video, as she put on a neon green bodycon dress with a low-cut neckline. “I’m going to wear something kind of ridiculous and we’re going to try to get approval from the HR rep that is here today, who’s a male.”
The male HR representative reacted positively to Marie’s outfit, and even encouraged her to do a spin. While some TikTokers still defended Marie, others suggested that the entire incident was staged, due to the HR manager’s unprofessional response.
“He’s definitely not HR with a response like that,” one person wrote.
“Ok I feel like this definitely has to be a joke,” another user said. “The last one was insane but THIS. If not, then HR is the problem.”
“As an HR professional I’m worried about your HR team,” someone else said.
Much of Marie’s TikTok page is dedicated to funny work-related content, leading many people to believe that the alleged HR violation was fake.
“I absolutely fell for it,” said one commenter. “LOL”.
