Lorna Jane's having a bad, bad week.

It’s been a busy week for fitness brand Lorna Jane … but not in a good way.

In fact we’re pretty sure the entire management would have had their heart rate up in the ‘fat burning zone’ all week. Not of course that anyone that actually works there would need to burn any fat!

Blow No. 1

The first blow this week came when Amy Robinson, a former Lorna Jane Store Manager at the Brisbane Airport DFO store, launched a $500,000 law suit against the brand to compensate for the pain and suffering she endured whilst working there.

Amy Robinson was a young mum, size 14. Very normal by Australian standards. She felt though that she clearly didn’t fit the brand’s ‘look’. Everyday she claims she was subjected to bullying and fat-shaming. And that rather than embracing the MOVE. NOURISH. BELIEVE. (which we would think means that everyone of any size can move, nourish their bodies and believe in themselves) company tagline, it was allegedly implied that she should skip lunch and just drink coffee like a lot of the other employees.

In addition to her claims of being bullied over her ‘weight and size’, she also claims that the store in which she worked (apparently the Brisbane Airport DFO store is one of their busiest) was always understaffed and because of this she was forced to lift up to 100 boxes of clothing, weighing up to 20kg each day. Amy has since had two surgeries for internal injuries she is maintaining was directly linked to lifting boxes.

This story has gone mad over the last two days. It’s everywhere because it appears to have struck a chord with so many people.

Blow No. 2

With what seems to be highly coincidental timing, Lorna Jane then launched a hashtag this week #tellthetruth

They went out with the hashtag in an attempt to gain support via their Facebook fans. This failed big time with many of their fans commenting calling the business a ‘bully’. It clearly got out of hand and wasn’t achieving what the brand had set out to do, so the post was deleted.

A follow up message was then posted on the Lorna Jane facebook page:

lorna jane is having a bad week_hashtag post

The hash tag post “Tell The Truth” has been removed as this was aimed at the media to tell the truth and facts about the case, not an individual. We are confident that the truth and facts will prevail in due course. Thank you everyone for your overwhelming support.

Interesting indeed.

Blow No. 3

A Sydney mum makes a decision to change a few things in her life; she decides to start exercising so purchases a treadmill to use at home. You go girl!

When the treadmill arrives, so too does a $250 voucher for Lorna Jane. A great match one would think – yup some groovy new exercise gear for when you’re … exercising!

The problem for this mum though is that no matter whether she looked in store or online, the fitness giant (remember they want you to MOVE. NOURISH. BELIEVE) didn’t have one piece of clothing in a size 18.

We checked the online store and found that some lines were carried in XL but nowhere could we find exactly what size this equated to. We did laugh out loud though when we chose XL as our shopping filter and were presented with models that looked to be size 6 – 8.

lorna jane is having a bad week_XL options

So you can imagine that the Sydney mum, complete with her $250 to spend became massively dilusioned when the only things that applied to her were ‘miscellaneous’, ‘accessories’. Understandably she was left in tears after not being able to find a single piece of exercise clothing. She ended up buying “a yoga mat, a bag of socks and a headband”.

Take a look at the LJ size chart and you’ll see why this mum struggled finding anything. XL to Lorna Jane is a size 16 and that’s as far as it goes.

lorna jane is having a bad week_size chart

God bless her husband who felt her pain and decided to do something about it. He took to his own facebook page and lashed out at the brand. he demanded to know whey Lorna Jane only stocked ‘teeny tiny sizes’. A very good question.

In just 15 hours more than 50,000 people have liked the post to show their support for his wife, Hayley Marsden, who was left in tears when she was unable to find anything in her size at a Lorna Jane store. She was trying to buy new clothes to motivate her for her new fitness regime.

Hi there, Lorna Jane… Why are you not catering for your target market- overweight people who want to lose weight?

This written by her husband Ryan Marsden in his impassioned post.

Why do you stock only teeny tiny sizes? Do you not want your clothing to be seen on ‘fat’ people?

You can see his original facebook post here.

So 3 strikes Lorna Jane. Does that mean you’re OUT?

Well probably not. Not this year or next but perhaps the wheels are in motion for consumers to start questioning where they shop.

We’re betting Lorna Jane is glad this week is over. Trouble is, none of this stuff will go away anytime soon.

We consumers have long, long memories and it’s up to retailers to make us feel great about ourselves, not defeated before we start.

Have you ever felt defeated when you tried to spend your cash?

31 Comments

- - mom94378 said
  - 14 Nov 2015
    8:13 pm
can’t please everyone all the time, not even in business

- - mom160421 said
  - 12 Nov 2015
    9:38 am
Pretty bad business practice not stocking exercise gear for larger people. I know I wouldn’t find anything to fit.

- - JessyJade190490 said
  - 04 Nov 2015
    4:51 pm
Yep, definitely don’t agree with Lorna Jane and their business. Anytime I have gone into a Lorna Jane store, the staff have always been a bit pushy, and look at you judgementally if you aren’t a stick thin twig… When I was a size 14, I went into Lorna Jane to buy a black jacket. I got an L, without trying it on due to being all hot and sweaty, and then worked out I needed an XL which had to be ordered instore and posted out to me… Was certainly frustrating!!

- - jodiev1980 said
  - 30 Oct 2015
    4:19 pm
Oh wow! I don’t have a Lorna Jane near me but I doubt I’d fit into anything anyway by the sound of it!

- - hopefullyheidi said
  - 26 Oct 2015
    9:56 pm
These people should feel ashamed for not only what they allegedly did in the first place, but then to continue on with an online bullying campaign is just morally reprehensible.

- - 4littlemunchkins said
  - 11 Oct 2015
    4:44 pm
Lorna Jane is also crazy expensive for exercise gear.
- mom94125 replied
  
  14 Oct 2015 , 9:21 pm
  yes mega expensive to get the good brand
- - BellaB said
  - 21 Sep 2015
    4:04 pm
Yep. It can be hard to find quality at a decent price.

- - mom113055 said
  - 20 Sep 2015
    3:06 pm
it s been a busy week but not in a good way

- - mom94125 said
  - 18 Sep 2015
    9:29 pm
wow and they deal with this over social media

- - tinakraja said
  - 18 Sep 2015
    9:17 pm
well i’ve never shopped here as I’ve always assumed its just another name brand and now it looks like I won’t shop here ever. and I like the whole “get one bad report and 20 people hear about it” I won’t be going past my local store without remembering this and I’m sure I will have no Problems in sharing this with like minded people.

- - dragonflychai11 said
  - 16 Sep 2015
    9:53 am
I too got a LJ voucher and was disappointed that I couldn’t spend it. Even the 16 is a small 16.

- - mom62054 said
  - 15 Sep 2015
    11:53 am
I wonder about the employee suing for being “fat bullied”, while it may be true, I can’t help but wonder if lorna jane had an issue with her size then why was she ever employed? And why was she made a store manager at one of their busiest stores?

- - youngoldlady said
  - 13 Sep 2015
    9:28 pm
LJ and others like them do not think us size 16 and above want to get fit. To treat a staff member like that is really not on. Be staying away from them, it like the swimwear that you do not swim in.

- - mom63071 said
  - 13 Sep 2015
    8:47 pm
Just looking in the window tells me they don’t stock anything my size. It’s stupid … but I’ve seen very few people actually exercise in their Lorna Jane gear .. making me think it’s purely for looks ..

- - mom113055 said
  - 13 Sep 2015
    12:47 pm
busy week for witness

- - jellybean01 said
  - 13 Sep 2015
    10:44 am
Informative article….I wont be buying any Lorna Jane!

- - mom112217 said
  - 13 Sep 2015
    8:27 am
Don’t think l will be buying Lorna Jane!

- - kymichelle said
  - 12 Sep 2015
    8:47 pm
Wow – I hand’t heard any of this. Doesn’t surprise me though. I hope my daughter (or sons) NEVER have to endure anything like this 🙁

- - dannsbuild said
  - 12 Sep 2015
    8:41 pm
Interesting! Thanks so much for sharing this!

- - mom71809 said
  - 12 Sep 2015
    4:32 pm
Always found lj to be overpriced considering it’s clothing designed to be sweated in
- mom93821 replied
  
  13 Sep 2015 , 5:01 am
  Gym clothes to get sweaty and ‘nasty’ that is for sure!
  - mom93821 replied
    
    13 Sep 2015 , 5:13 am
    
    Oops! should say “do” not “to” 🙂