March 28, 2005 9:42 AM

More women troubles over at Harvard
Posted by Diane Danielsonat 9:42 AM

Women are having a tough time over at Harvard. First, they were told that they may not have the brain cells to compete in science. Now they're being told that apparently they don't use the brain cells that they do have to know how to dress appropriately. In this Sunday's "Out in the Field" column, Diane E. Lewis looks at what's appropriate attire for the office and how that's playing out in a lawsuit being brought by an assistant librarian who claims she was passed over for promotions due to how she dressed.

Desiree Goodwin, 40, of Arlington, is at the center of a federal court lawsuit that focuses on workplace attire and alleged bias. Brought by Goodwin, an assistant librarian at a Harvard University library, the suit claims a supervisor implied that the reason Goodwin was turned down for promotion 16 times was because of her attire and physical attractiveness.

Goodwin contends a supervisor told her in December 2001 that she was viewed as a "pretty girl" who wore "sexy outfits," according to an article in The Boston Globe. She also says other women were not penalized or held back because of the way they dressed. Goodwin, an African-American woman with two advanced degrees from Cornell University, says the jobs she sought were given to women with less experience and education. Reportedly, a supervisor also suggested that Goodwin could apply elsewhere because employers were looking for qualified black applicants.

The article then discusses some parameters for appropriate dressing which is useful now that warmer weather may soon be upon us (at least according to the calendar!). Personally, I'm all for dressing up for the office. But, when it comes to what crosses the "too sexy" line: it's o.k. to dress in a manner where your colleagues might imagine that you have really nice undergarments beneath the outfit; it's not o.k. if they can actually tell exactly what type of undergarments you're wearing.
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