• I am a gay male who works in an office environment for one of the 3 major automakers in the state of Texas.
• My office specific dress codes states that sandals are appropriate office attire. Not gender specific on footwear. (Casual sandals are not acceptable)
• Other females in my office wear sandals and flip-flops daily.
• I wore dress sandals to work today with my shorts (which are acceptable attire also).
• My manager advised me that I can’t wear sandals again because it is not acceptable for male employees to wear sandals.
• I have worn these sandals at our other office locations in the past with no problems.
• Other females in the office stated sandals had never been discussed with them as an issue. They even wear flip-flops and it’s not an issue.
• My employer does not discriminate based on sex, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity to just name a few.
• Was I discriminated against based on my “sex”?

A difference in dress codes for men and women must have a legitimate business reason or the employer could be faced with a complaint of discrimination on the basis of gender, etc. The definition of what constitutes a legitimate business reason is fairly broad. Customer expectations may be a legitimate business reason...with some exceptions, of course. Examples of what has been seen as an acceptable reason are requiring that men not have long hair (with accommodations for issues such as religious observances) or permitting women to wear skirts while men cannot (with exceptions, as with the hair issue, for accommodation of a protected status).