A former volunteer at a Dundee charity shop claims bosses gave him a dressing down because he was wearing the wrong trousers.
Carlos Saenz says he felt “humiliated” by management at staff meetings because his clothing did not comply with a dress code.
The 42-year-old Dundee University graduate began volunteering at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) shop in the Wellgate two weeks ago.
He arrived for an induction wearing denim jeans and was told he must wear dark trousers on the sales floor.
However, the expensive designer slacks his wife then bought him did not meet the approval of the manager and he was twice asked to leave.
He said: “I want to get on one of these graduate training programmes but you need sales experience so I volunteered.
“I was told at the induction not to wear denim so my wife went and bought me Dockers trousers in black and dark blue.
“I was at the staff meeting the next morning and the manager said I shouldn’t be wearing jeans.
“I thought she was joking at first but she was very serious. The same thing happened when I came in wearing the dark blue trousers. She said it was denim but it wasn’t.
“She said this is policy, we have to maintain standards. Then she asked me to leave.
“I felt humiliated in front of everyone. I was very embarrassed.”
Carlos has lived in Dundee for 15 years after moving to Scotland from Spain. Since completing a degree in history two years ago he has carried out unpaid work at several local organisations.
He said: “I am familiar with volunteering. I have volunteered in the library, at the Red Cross and at the British Heart Foundation shop.”
Manager Gail, who would not give her last name, defended her decision to show Carlos the door.
She told The Courier she has more than 40 years’ management experience and all 27 volunteers at the Wellgate Centre store are treated the same way.
“Everyone is told to wear dark trousers,” she said. “He was not wearing dark trousers, they were denim.
“When I spoke to him about it he started arguing with me. Anyone who thinks they can lecture me on my sales floor is not welcome in my shop.”
BHF deputy retail director Diane Locke said: “We are sorry to hear about this incident and will be investigating what happened at the Dundee BHF Furniture and Electrical Store as a matter of urgency.
“Volunteers are vital to the success of BHF Shops. We have 20,000 volunteers and simply couldn’t continue the fight against heart disease without them.”
For the latest on this story, see Friday’s Courier.