UK woman sent home from work for not wearing heels sparks online campaign

UNITED KINGDOM -- A woman in the United Kingdom who fought back after she was sent home for not wearing high heels in the office has scored a legal victory, while re-igniting the hot-button topic of workplace footwear.

And now, Nicola Thorp and her flats have a country rallying behind her.

"I turned up to my first day of job as a receptionist in a black suit and smart flat black shoes," she said.

But Thorp was sent home from her new position at a global accounting firm in the UK, without pay, because she showed up in shoes without a minimum 2-inch heels.

"I was there for all of 10 minutes," she said. "I argued with her to begin with, because I pointed to a male colleague, and said he's wearing flat shoes."

Outraged, Thorp left and got to work.

"I looked into it, found out it was in fact a gray area in British law, that my employer was sort of acting within their rights arguably," she said. "So I Googled, 'How do I change the law?'"

She started a petition that has more than 150,000 signatures, and six months later, she is calling on lawmakers to keep companies from demanding women wear heels at work.

Professional women sounded off on Twitter, joining the fight and defiantly posting pictures in flats.

A parliamentary committee concluded that Portico, the out-sourcing firm that gave Thorp the high heel ultimatum, had broken the law.

"I had the choice of either will I get paid for a day's work, let go of my principles, or stick to it," she said. "And I'm really glad now that I did."

Portico announced Wednesday it has rewritten its code and dropped the 2-to 4-inch heel requirement, among others.