It’s been a year of controversy for fitness queen Lorna Jane Clarkson from facing allegations of bullying and harassment to being slammed for posting a job advertisement asking for applicant’s body measurement.
Appearing on 60 Minutes, Lorna Jane struggled to hold back tears saying, “I should be tougher than that but this is who I am. I’m human.”
She opened up and revealed that she would have handled things differently following the job her company had advertised for a receptionist who was a “small size” with a bust size of 87-90cm, a waist no bigger than 73cm and a 97-100cm hip.
“In hindsight, would I wish we’d written it differently? Absolutely,” she said.
“I just think we’re an active wear company, they misconstrued the word “fit” for being physically fit and not actually a fitting model. Fit doesn’t mean skinny.”
Shortly after, Lorna Jane found itself under media scrutiny when a former employee sued the retailer for $548, 000.
Former store manager Amy Robinson said she was “fat shamed”, bullied and called offensive names when she worked for the company in 2012.
“There was not one day that went by that I didn’t have some kind of bullying happening,” Ms Robinson, who is a size 14, said.
Ms Clarkson was quick to refute claims of bullying in her company.
“No, it’s not true. And the truth will come through,” she said.
When asked if there was a bullying culture at Lorna Jane, she said, “Absolutely not. And you know what, if there was, I would put a stop to it. I would do the right thing.”
She also denied that she had ever categorised someone as “fat”.
“I don’t really think anything about fat people and I don’t put anyone in that category “oh fat person” at all.”
