“They left me barefoot”: Zara employee in Colombia denounces “humiliating” treatment by management

An employee at Spanish fashion retailer Zara in Bogotá, Colombia, has denounced what she described as “humiliating” treatment by the store’s management, alleging that she was forced to return shoes she had been allowed to wear while working and was then made to leave the store barefoot.

María Alejandra Rojas arrived in Bogotá seeking a job opportunity while completing her law degree. She had come from a warmer climate and was wearing open footwear, so a supervisor allowed her to use a pair of high heels until she received her uniform.

According to her account, the supervisor’s assistant later demanded that she return the shoes, telling her they had been loaned to her and were not part of the official uniform, despite the fact that she had been given them to work.

“At the end of my shift, they forced me to take off the shoes. They did not give me the option of taking them back the next day. They did not look for a solution. They had no consideration for me. I simply had to take them off and leave. They made me walk barefoot through the entire store,” Rojas told Colombian media.

In a video shared online, Rojas said she crossed the shopping center barefoot before taking a taxi home. “They left me barefoot!” she said through tears. “What they are doing to me is outrageous,” she concluded.