Lift up your bra… Poundland worker quits over strip search
A TEENAGE shop assistant at Poundland was ordered to lift her bra in front of other staff and customers to prove she had not stolen anything.
Naomi Scott was one of several female employees subjected to the search by a supervisor as they worked on tills.
She did another two shifts after the humiliating incident but resigned on Monday. ‘I was disgusted. I couldn’t believe they would make us do it,’ Miss Scott, 17, told MailOnline.
‘ We’ve al ways had bag searches and pocket searches. But all of a sudden, last Thursday, they came up with the idea of a bra search. One of my supervisors, a female, came up to us when we were on the till and said, “We need to do a bra search”.’
Miss Scott, who turned 17 in March, began working at the branch in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, after leaving school last June and was taken on full-time in September. She was paid £3.91 an hour to do 30 or 40-hour weeks at the shop.
The teenager admitted she had her mobile phone in her bra – which is against company policy – but complained her contract had only mentioned bag and pocket searches.
She removed her phone then had to pull on her bra to show the supervisor there was nothing else inside.
Miss Scott said: ‘This was in front of staff and customers. She just said, “Have you anything inside your bra?” I had to pull my bra outward, give a bit of a shake and see if any coins came out the bottom.’ She said her uniform sweatshirt meant she was not exposed when she lifted her bra.
But she was still furious at her treatment and felt she had no choice but to obey the order. She added: ‘I felt uncomfortable. It was an invasion of my privacy, it was embarrassing.’
‘Only bag and pocket searches are in the contract. There was no similar search for men.
‘It’s my first proper job but I just left ... I’m now looking for another job.’
A Poundland spokesman said: ‘This was a highly regrettable incident where neither the colleague nor the supervisor followed company policy.
‘There is clear CCTV footage of the incident and we have taken steps to ensure it does not happen again.’