We’re still talking about dress code at work

We’re into the 21st century, with a growing number of women assuming important positions in politics and industry — and still talking about dress codes in the workplace.

Take for example, this excerpt from a letter sent by a woman who manages a loan department in a brokerage in the Midwest. She says she has four women and six men working for her. The men and two of the women dress, she says, as they should to convey the impression that the company is serious about doing business.

The other two women, however, are another thing. She says that while there is a company policy of having employees wear clothes suitable for the working environment, these two ladies wear skimpy tops that reveal their belly buttons, and claim they have a right to free expression. Their clothes reflect that right, and no company policy can stop them. So, what can she do without looking like some Constitution-busting regressive?

I’m a fervent supporter of the First Amendment and would never willy-nilly do anything to quash anyone’s right to free expression. However, while our rights may be inalienable, they are not absolute. There are limits. For example, we know we can’t yell “fire” in a theater if there is no fire. And we can’t libel anyone just because we don’t like them. Nor can we expect to be “free” to walk naked along Main Street without being stopped by the police.

In the case of the manager being daunted by the belly-button barers’ right to free expression, would she feel the same way if the ladies showed up wearing only bikinis? Probably not. If she feels, as many people do, that seeing exposed navels in a business setting diminishes confidence in the company, she should have the right to execute company policy and deal with the subsequent outrage when (or if) it comes.