A charity issued a grovelling apology to a volunteer today after he was ‘fired’ for wearing the wrong trousers.
Carlos Saenz, 42, turned up wearing jeans on his induction day as a volunteer at the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) shop but was told not to wear denim again.
But despite turning up the next day in a pair of swanky dark blue Dockers bought by his wife – which start at £80 a pair – he was told they were still not acceptable for the charity shop’s standards.
Since being dismissed from the Wellgate Shopping Centre store in Dundee, Scotland, three weeks ago Carlos has finally received an apology from chiefs at the charity.
Phil Denty, the BHF’s regional manager for Scotland, vowed not to let the incident happen again.
He said: “We are sorry to hear about this incident and investigated what happened at the Dundee BHF Furniture and Electrical Store as a matter of urgency.
“I’d like to personally apologise to Mr Saenz and reassure him that additional training will be conducted at the Dundee store to ensure this does not happen again.
“Volunteers are vital to the success of our stores.
“We have 20,000 volunteers and simply couldn’t continue the fight against heart disease without them.”
But Carlos – who moved from Spain 15 years ago – is still raging at the charity and says he will not return because he was “humiliated” and “bullied”.
And Carlos even claims that the BHF customer service staff revealed over the phone that there is actually is no dress code for volunteers.
The history graduate from Dundee University said: “Customer service called to let me know the investigation was finished and they apologised.
“They said the incident should never have happened because there is nowhere in writing about the material volunteers should wear.”
“It’s the usual. They tell you they take it very seriously and later on give me a general apology, that’s all.
“I don’t even know if they had a proper investigation at all. I just hope they will do something so this will never happen again to other volunteers.”
A spokeswoman for the British Heart Foundation confirmed that volunteers are allowed to wear jeans while working in their shops.
She said: “There’s not a set uniform for volunteers.
“What the store managers ask for is that our volunteers to appear clean and tidy, including clothes that are suitable for the tasks they are undertaking.”
Can I wear a skirt or dress in the shop?