Eh I will pass, especially since I work weekends, I am only in the office 2 days during the actual work week. maybe I need to go get a roll of quarters from somewhere, or two to really throw them off...LOL

Damn, people are so uptight about seeing other people's bodies. I can understand how some don't find every body aestheticly pleasing, but to be downright offended by it seems irrational.

I don't know about the rest of ya, but for me to see any detail of any kind through black tights, I have to really be looking closely.

I'm all for putting some shorts on or whatever, but I can't help but wonder why they were staring at your crotch so intently.

Some cultures are very uptight about bodies in general...I've heard of cyclists (men and women) riding in Muslim countries having to dodge sticks and rocks thrown at them because the people there were offended.


To the OP - is this perhaps a cultural or religious issue? Is the woman who filed the complaint a Muslim, or perhaps a wacko fundamentalist (a redundancy...I know)?

No she is a rather rotund woman, white, from Tennesee who just joined the company about 5 months ago. I have been working here for the last 4 years commuting for 2 of them. They actually kicked me out of my comfy cube by the window so she could have closer access to the door for her scooter. I have never said anything or made any complaint. I just come in change clothes work my 10 hours and go home. I really have better things to do than be at work doing a job that I am not going to be in for the rest of my life.

Maybe I should wear one of those neon green "ball slings" that the Borat dude wore in the movie. Maybe then she wouldnt find the lycra so offensive.

By the way, if anyone can bring an EEOC/sexual harassment suit it is the OP. Imagine if a lady in a skirt was told by her male supervisor that she can't wear a skirt anymore because it's too distracting to him?

Anyhow, Sexual Harassment comes in two parts. First is classic quid pro quo. I.e. you will be promoted, granted preference etc. if you do (fill in the sexual act). That's pretty cut and dry.

The second is that conduct of a sexual nature is creating what a reasonable person would consider a hostile work environment. The reasonable person qualifier is key, since that is what a judge would look at, not at what your unreasonable co-workers think. If you worked in bike shorts all day perhaps a reasonable person would feel it a hostile work environment. Since you simply ride in bike clothing that will not pass the test.

Your co-workers have elected to assign sexual tension or meaning to your lycra shorts that you don't even wear all day, and that you utilize for utilitarian reasons. They have taken their wholly contrived complaints and meaning up the chain, and their mentality (and indignant oggling) has created a hostile work environment for YOU.

What do I know about this? As a Capt in the USAF I have to be up to speed on sexual harassment laws and EEOC issues, since under me are enlisted troops of both sexes.

Your supervisor needs to have the courage and knowledge to not simply cave to the most squealy wheel in the office. I know these are sensitive issues, and supervisors are simply terrified of having to make reasonable decisions for fear of being wrong...but just because someone complains, particularly if that someone is female, does not make them automatically right.

The standard does not reflexively err to support the individual tastes and peculiarities of the most restrictive individual. That person, in this case, would have one heck of a time demonstrating a hostile work environment.

But at this point you certainly can.

Yeah, and maybe the complaining woman should be made to wear an ace bandage around her boobs all day, so she won't stick out and offend anyone.

Thats what I think as well.

Is it a battle worth fighting for?

Are you going to burn very valuable bridges if you do not comply?

In other words; Is it really worth it besides the consequences?

I was thinking something more for her midsection or the parts of her rear that hang over the edges of her little scooter seat.

Say no more.

1.) The OP was not naked.

2.) It was not what he wears during work just before and after.

3.) If his coworkers saw him or anyone else in Lycra on the street they would have no recourse.

4.) If the women had a noon hour aerobics class would you be applying this same standard to their leotards?

5.) Does coming and going count as "in the workplace"? As I said previously, I think this is one of those where do your rights end and my rights begin issues.

6.) Some people just need to grow up.

Find something about her to counter complain about.

She's probably just mad that your bike is faster than her scooter.
fat *****.
Sorry, I guess that last part was very un-PC and completely uncalled for.
I'll go get someone to spank me now.

I had a co-worker at work complain because I do not shower before the shift begins. For about a year we worked in a facility that this was not available, but it now is.

So the next day I brought in stuff to shower with. Took a shower. Applied massive amounts of after-shave.

I applied more after-shave about every half-hour. Two or three times when the complaining co-worker came by my desk, I sprinkled some on my desk and smeared it around to create a huge odorous "bloom".

I haven't showered at work since and he hasn't complained about it.

What kind of idiot would hire a health care worker that's so fat she needs a scooter to get around? Aren't there minimum fitness standards where you work?

Of course, it may be that she's one of those professional "victims" who use the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws to shake down companies for bogus lawsuits....in that case, your boss may be too afraid to stand up for you.

Why not get a great big nurse's uniform, like size XXXXL, and throw it on over the top of your cycling gear before walking in. Then, as you walk past her blow up your cheeks and waddle past like really fat people do..... maybe even take a donut in with you and stuff it into your mouth just before saying "good morning" letting the crumbs shower down on your nurses uniform.


....but first you have to decide just how badly you want to work there

I work for a company that has allowed severely obese people to use 'handicapped' parking spots, simply because they are obese. When I was 385 pounds, I never used the handicapped spots. I had pride, which explains why I am now 140 some pounds less. Some folks don't have pride, which explains why they got to use the handicapped spots.

I agree some people just need to grow up, but as far as I know the defense that the OP only wears lycra when arriving or departing doesn't work. Your behavior, including dress, is subject to review whenever you are on the company's property. I know someone who is required to show up to work in full dress uniform, including sidearm. The company makes the rules.

Why wear the lycra in the first place? A pair of sweat pants or looser fitting hiking pants or shorts should work fine as would nearly any trousers, if you use an ankle band to keep them out of the chain. I've ridden 50 milers in sweat pants or plain old cheap loose fitting gym shorts and wicking undies. I don't want to be seen wearing lycra, its down right offensive to subject others to that, especially if one does not have rock hard abs. I did this once back in the day when wool shorts with real leather chamois were the only cycling shorts available. A gal asked me if I wore underwear with them , I said no, she said," maybe you better start". Lets face it, unless its 85 degrees and you are riding more than about 30 miles and trying to set a personal speed record, you don't need to wear skin tight stretchy pants for fun!

Complain about this. State the group 'activity' interferes with your work and personally distresses you. I did this about a decade ago when I worked for a company that tried to promote "team" by holding a 'food day' on what seemed a weekly basis. One woman ate to excess and became ill. Even though I was severely obese, I was disgusted by the entire spectacle.

I routinely stuff my Falstaffian belly into lycra, and I've had no complaints. Nor have I heard any. It's technical clothing for a technical activity. If someone is offended at my lycra, they are most probably offended at the idea a recovering fat man can ride a bicycle. (And no Charles, I don't shave my legs - remember you've complained if you do one you have to do the other.)

That said, whenever I commute to work or church, I wear shorts or pants over my bike shorts, simply to avoid offending anyone, for any reason.

As you are learning, fat people, on the whole, are a pretty nasty bunch. Deep down, obese people know what they need to do to lose weight, but they don't do it, or they persuade themselves (with the media's help) they can't do it. So they subconsciously hate thin people, and fat people who have lost weight. A couple of decades ago Richard Simmons was the target of abuse among the fatties I've hung out with; today it's Jared Fogle, the Subway spokesman.

I should know, since I am a recovering fat person. I've both hated thin folks when I was 385, and I've been the subject of hatred for losing 140 some pounds through diet and exercise alone. I'm sorry you are the subject of fat-driven hatred.

Congratulations on the weight loss. It sounds like you really took control and did a positive thing!

Good on you for talking to HR about it, although if I were in your situation I probably would have just ignored the email and continued on as usual. Why should you have to carry extra clothing to work just to walk through the door. Its ridiculous. If they want to step it up in the future then make the call as to what you're gonna do, but I bet it dies. He didn't even have the balls to tell you to your face!