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They sell sexy undies — but for the ultra-religious owners of a Manhattan lingerie company, one curvaceous clerk was too hot to handle.
Busty blond Lauren Odes says the Orthodox Jewish owners of Fifth Avenue lingerie company Native Intimates canned her because she was “just too hot” for their Midtown showroom filled with skimpy satin and lace underthings.
“I was working in a business that is not a synagogue but is instead selling thongs with hearts that are placed in the female genitalia area and boy shorts for women that say ‘Hot’ in the buttocks area,” fumed Odes yesterday in announcing her explosive Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint against the wholesaler.
“Given their business product, I don’t understand why I would be told I was just ‘too hot,’ ” said Odes, 29, who alleges she was sacked by Native Intimates after just a few days of working there last month.
The buxom beauty said she was “appalled” when she was given a red bathrobe to hide her ample figure — and when a female supervisor “suggested that I tape down my breasts.”
“It was very shocking, very humiliating,” she told reporters.
Odes — backed by media-savvy lawyer Gloria Allred — yesterday showed off her impressive physique as she announced her EEOC gender- and religious-discrimination complaint against Native Intimates.
“The company’s treatment of Ms. Odes was particularly ironic considering that it sells women’s undergarments and keeps a showroom with bras, lingerie and other intimate clothing,” Allred said.
“No woman should be told that her breasts are too large, her body too appealing and her appearance too attractive for the male leadership of that company.”
The 5-foot-2 New Jersey woman said the problem began soon after a temp agency placed her at Native Intimates’ offices as a data-entry clerk and office assistant in late April.
The office features female mannequins decked out in thongs and skimpy bras.
On the company’s blog, there are postings that make clear Native Intimates hopes that its merchandise appeals to the woman looking to show off her assets — and to raise the temperature of her partner.
“Even the way you walk changes when you wear something secretly sexy,” one blog posting drools.
“Wearing corsets and bustiers is sure to get anyone’s heart racing, no matter what the color,” another company posting lustily points out. “Lingerie is a great way for any woman to feel sexier in her own skin. Of course your partner will greatly appreciate it, but it will boost your own confidence knowing you look great.”
Despite such frank, sex-laden marketing, Odes said that from nearly the start of her brief employment, she was criticized by a female supervisor for wearing tight clothing that showed off her ample body.
“When I was first told that I was too hot and that my breasts were too large, I was shocked,” Odes said.
“After I was told to tape down my breasts, I cried.”
Odes — who is listed as the member of a Web site that helps aspiring reality-show performers find work — said the supervisor even suggested that she “wear my boyfriend’s oversize sweat pants and T-shirt” to the office instead of a tight purple dress she wore on the second day.
“Her supervisors warned that the company’s Orthodox Jewish owners saw what she was wearing and disapproved,” Allred said.
“She was told she was drawing attention from others and she should not wear the outfit for her own safety. She was told by supervisors, ‘You are just too hot for this office,’ ” Allred said of Odes —who is herself Jewish.
Odes said her boss’ hectoring about her hefty chest reached a fever pitch when she went to work wearing a tight black dress with a plunging V-shaped back that exposed her bra strap and stockings.
That day, she said, her supervisor’s ire “escalated to the point of walking me over to a closet and suggesting that I put on a bright- red bathrobe and then sit at my desk and wear it all day.”
“I returned to my desk wearing it,” Odes said. “I felt ridiculous and extremely embarrassed.
“Others in the office were laughing and asking me why I was wearing a bathrobe. It was a crazy experience, unlike anything I’d ever been through,” Odes said.
Finally, fed up with the looks she was getting from co-workers, Odes told her boss that she would prefer to go buy another outfit.
While she was out shopping, she said, her boss called her and told her she was fired.
She added that, right after she was fired, Native Intimates sent out an e-mail to workers reminding them of the company’s conservative dress code.
A woman at the front desk of Native Intimates said, “We’re not commenting at this time.”
A male worker, who refused to give his name, said of Odes’ choice of clothes, “It’s not appropriate.”
“The women here, they dress nicely but covered up. Most are Orthodox. There are a lot of married men here, and it’s not OK to have a woman dress like that.”
When it was pointed out to the man that there is lingerie displayed throughout the workplace, he said, “It’s what we sell, but it’s not the work environment.”