LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST: An office worker in Britain has called attention to a double standard. Last week, a London receptionist launched a petition to force her company to change its dress code. Back in December, Nicola Thorp, working as a temp, was sent home for wearing a pair of flats instead of the 2-to-4-inch heels required by her employer, the temp agency Portico.</s>LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST: It is still legal in the U.K. for a company to require female staff members to wear high heels. Thorp's petition called for the rule to be changed. Her complaint struck a chord and quickly gained more than 100,000 signatures, according to the Guardian newspaper - so many signatures, in fact, that the government is now required to respond.</s>LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST: Hoping to duck charges of sexism, Portico has now changed its policy and said that its female employees may wear flats. Score one for sensible shoes.</s>TRAFFIC: (Singing) And the thing that you're hearing is only the sound of the low spark of high-heeled boys.
A British woman who was sent home from work for not wearing high heels has launched a petition asking that it be illegal for a company to require women to wear them.