PENNEY'S BACKS AWAY FROM PANTS CONTROVERSY

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 18, 1993                   TAG: 9302180070
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP, N.J.                                LENGTH: Short
PENNEY'S BACKS AWAY FROM PANTS CONTROVERSY
Diane Carter got her job back Monday at J.C. Penney, after being fired for wearing slacks to work in defiance of a new dress code.
"She's a woman whose principles forced her to do this," said Myra Terry, president of the New Jersey chapter of the National Organization for Women.
Carter, 38, of Hamilton Township, was fired Feb. 5 for her third violation of a new dress code requiring Penney's female employees to wear skirts or dresses to work.
The eight-year employee of Penney's beauty salon at Quaker Bridge Mall said she had never once worn a skirt to work and didn't intend to start. After a verbal and a written warning, Penney's fired her.
Meanwhile, a second woman - Sharon Brecko of Lawrenceville - also started wearing pants to work, but by that time the issue was garnering widespread publicity. On Wednesday, Penney's told Brecko she could keep her job and began trying to contact Carter about reinstating her.
The store and Penney's national headquarters in Dallas had gotten calls from outraged customers. Most of Penney's employees and customers are women, said Henry J. Rusman, the firm's national spokesman.
"We are very pleased to put this behind us," store manager Chuck Slupe said Monday.
Each of Penney's 1,200 stores sets its own dress code.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB