[url]http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/South/12/10/offbeat.dress.code.ap/index.html[/url]

CHARLESTON, West Virginia (AP) -- Mike Samples doesn't like the new dress code at his state job -- so he wore a dress to work.

Instead of his usual jeans, ball cap and T-shirt, the 32-year-old claims manager in the Workers' Compensation Division wore a polka-dot maternity dress he'd borrowed from a friend to protest the new guidelines.

"Those things aren't nearly as comfortable as I thought they would be," Samples said Monday.

He didn't bother with hose or high heels and kept on his tennis shoes.

"It wasn't attractive," he said.

But Samples barely got to logon to his computer at work before he was sent home. That was fine with Samples since he didn't want to wear that dress all day.

Since then, Samples has been wearing more acceptable khakis and sweaters. So far he hasn't been disciplined and has apologized to his supervisor, Employment Programs Commissioner Robert Smith, who instituted the new guidelines December 1.

"The dress code is not a code. It is a statement that we expect our employees to be properly attired at work," Smith said. "There are things we don't think are appropriate."

I don't know it was anyone here.

While this board certainly has it's abundance of smart-asses, I dont' think ANY of them would be caught dead in a polka dot maternity dress. [:D]