Lauren Mixon, 22, didn't think the tiny stud was "extreme jewelry" that is discouraged in the Tax Collector's Office, where she had worked two years.
Posted on 11/30/2007 1:11:06 PM PST by Cagey
Tax Collector Mike Olson says the office worker was told not to do it.
LAND O'LAKES - Lauren Mixon said she wanted to sparkle - but just a little bit.
She wanted to get her nose pierced with a tiny diamond. She checked the dress code at work.
It discouraged "extreme" jewelry.
She checked with her supervisor. The answer, Mixon said: "It wouldn't be in my best interests."
Now some may interpret that one way. Mixon's own interpretation: no one ever said "no."
So she had her nose pierced. It hurt like heck for three days.
Now it really hurts.
Mixon is now out of a job over a tiny piece of metal that has suddenly become a big deal.
Her old employer said he feels bad. But he also said the rules don't allow it, her supervisor told her not to do it and that Mixon wasn't fired - she quit.
Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Olson said having the public served by someone with a nose piercing is not his idea of public service.
"We are a professional organization," Olson said. "If you choose to have that, work somewhere else."
* * *
For two years, Mixon worked the counter at the Land O'Lakes office, helping people pay their property taxes, renew their vehicle tags or get their hunting licenses. She got good reviews there.
"It's a good place to work," the 22-year-old said. "It really is."
She got pierced the night before Thanksgiving. A nose stud isn't extreme, she thought, and it was just $10.
Mixon hoped she could start with a clear plastic piercing that wouldn't be too noticeable. But the tattoo shop told her she had to start with a small sterling silver stud for four to eight weeks, to prevent infection.
Come Monday, she told her manager - the same manager who discouraged her the month before.
"She said 'You were told not to do it,' " Mixon said, "and I said 'No, I was told it wasn't in my best interests.' "
* * *
The next day, Tuesday, was Mixon's last.
She met with her manager and a human resources official. They spelled out the rules: the stud had to go.
Frustrated, Mixon said she would find someone to take out the stud, then come back Wednesday with her two weeks notice.
"With all of this going on and with the way I was treated," she said, "I didn't want to be here anymore."
She left the office with her husband Steven but returned with a new determination: "I got to thinking this isn't fair. I didn't do anything wrong."
She offered to put in a clear, plastic stud right away, or disguise it with a band-aid. And she said this:
"I'm not quitting and I'm not taking it out."
Too late. She was handed a letter accepting her "verbal resignation." She was excused from the office her last two weeks, and would be paid through Dec. 11.
Mixon said Thursday she only wants one thing:
"I just want my job back," she said.
But Olson said it's best for both of them if they go their separate ways.
* * *
Mike Olson knows a thing or two about dress codes, about professional workplaces.
"There's one thing about office policy every employer and employee knows," he said. "When you have something like a dress code, if you don't maintain it, then everybody gets upset."
The former county commissioner is 62 now. He's spent his entire adult life in one office or another.
He was 18 when he got his first office job in 1963.
When he was 19, they laid down the law on him: no sport jackets, no blazers.
Management was to wear suits only.
Lauren Mixon, 22, didn't think the tiny stud was "extreme jewelry" that is discouraged in the Tax Collector's Office, where she had worked two years.
GUILTY?
Another dumb liberal youth gets slapped in the face with reality.
I have not a lot of sympathy for this one.
“Not in your best interest” is pretty obvious how the company feels about it! She just didn’t give a crap.
No dear. You want your job back on your terms, which are to make the dress code whatever you want it to be.
It is just beyond me how any female thinks putting a bolt or ring in her nose will be an aesthetic improvement. Tacky, ugly, unsanitary, nasty. I just don’t get it.
Translation: "You have money for drilling holes in your body, maybe you're overpaid."
For the best story you've read today, read this short anecdote of when I asked my father if I could have an earring:
http://www.ubersite.com/m/53146
Instead of a stupid nose piercing she should be saving her money for braces.
-she should be saving her $ to get her teeth fixed.
By my standards, which are very conservative in regard to facial jewelry, that’s not extreme.
How about, HOw did she do her job?
Hell,
I can be a flaming queen, dress in drag or as a pregnant nun in San Frisco and go to work for the city and still do a lousy job and not get fired,
What the hell is so wrong with this stupid nose stud?
Again how did she do her job? Was she there on time and preform her prescribed duties well?
If not ok then fire her ass. If her only blemish is a stupid hole in her nose and you fire her then look out for a real good big lawsuit.
You og girl, and I think these studs are stupid.
You are an idiot, Mixon!
Next she’ll want to wear a thong jutting out from the back of her pants.
Employers don’t want to hire kids attempting to attract personal attention to themselves. They want employees who work hard and make the business look good. Professional appearance impacts customer impressions.
Guilty beyond reasonable doubt, and she sprays snot out the side of her nose now...............
What about a little lip ring?
If I take a pretty girl and use her as the poster child, does this change the fact that she violated policy? Usually such policy is in writing somewhere (which she signed) as well. Furthermore she was warned! Not only is she fired, I wouldn’t hire her either.
I have installed hundreds of tags, noe rings, etc in livestock for the last 40 years. I don’t see the transition of said practice to humans as attractive. Nose rings served a purpose when pigs were run outside.
It is simple for me. Don’t wear the stud at work if your employer doesn’t like it. If you want to do whatever you want start a small business and be your own boss. She sounds like a narcissist. That said I’ve never found nose piercings or lip piercings the least bit attractive, no more than the warts some call beauty spots. Still they can do what they want on their own time. I’d hope the judge throws this case out. It is a horrible waste of tax payers money to spend even a hearing on this silliness.
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