ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- A Postal Service supervisor has taken a medical leave, claiming that she is stressed out after being ordered to cut her fingernails.
Lolita Dash recently went on leave after her bosses said her inch-long nails violated the local postmaster's rule that nails can't extend more than a quarter-inch beyond the fingertip."Why should the focus be on nails and not mail?" said Dash, 36, a customer service supervisor who has worked for the post office since 1986. "I have been working with them safely."
Dash, who once had 5-inch thumbnails and took up to two hours to paint and decorate her nails, says her problems began in 1995, when a new postmaster instituted the rule, citing safety concerns. She cut her nails the next year.
"I was in tears the whole time," she said. "It felt like cutting off a part of my finger."
She soon let her nails grow to about an inch long, but there were no problems for a few years. But in March, her bosses began disciplinary proceedings. Within days, she went on medical leave and has not returned -- even though she had her nails cut to conform to the rule.
No one had been injured because of long nails, but "it's more of a case of preventive safety," said Gary Sawtelle, a postal service spokesman.
Six other female employees with long fingernails had theirs measured. One was found in violation and ordered to cut them.
Dash said the rule infringes upon employees' personal choices.
"It's more than fingernails," she said. "It's the principle."