The woman who claims she is too pretty to take a job
Laura Fernee says her good looks are so powerful they are ruining her life.
Beauty is usually seen as a blessing. But for some, it would seem, it can be a curse.
Laura Fernee says her good looks are so powerful they are ruining her life – and have forced her to quit her job.The 33-year-old science graduate says her slim figure and pretty face attracted unwanted attention from her male colleagues.
Laura Fernee quit her job saying she is too pretty to work as she receives unwanted attention
She also claims she has been ostracised by other women in the workplace who are jealous of her beauty.
Miss Fernee now lives off her wealthy parents after quitting her £30,000 job in scientific research two years ago.She said her appearance meant she was constantly harassed and bullied, and has decided work ‘just isn’t for her’.
Yesterday, she said: ‘I’m not lazy and I’m no bimbo. The truth is my good looks have caused massive problems for me when it comes to employment, so I’ve made the decision that employment just isn’t for me at the moment. It’s not my fault … I can’t help the way I look.
Laura said she didn’t get the acknowledgement she deserved for her scientific achievements as people only paid attention to her looks. ‘Male colleagues were only interested in me for how I looked. I wanted them to recognise my achievements and my professionalism but all they saw was my face and body.’
She said men left ‘romantic gifts’ on her desk and she was ‘constantly asked out’, which she found ‘sleazy’.
‘Even when I was in a laboratory in scrubs with no make-up they still came on to me because of my natural attractiveness. There was nothing I could do to stop it,’ she added.
Miss Fernee studied science and medical research to doctorate level and began working in a laboratory in 2008. But she said she was forced to quit three years later because of the treatment she received.
She said: ‘They [other women] assumed because I was pretty, I was silly, so didn’t take me seriously at first and, because of their own insecurities, were jealous of my looks.
‘Then when they realised I was very good at my job, possibly better than them, they hated me even more.’
Miss Fernee’s parents – Catherine, 65, and Alan, 70 – inherited money from Laura’s grandfather, and now pay £2,000 a month in rent and bills for her flat in Notting Hill, London, as well as picking up her credit card payments.
Her parents also pay for her credit cards, and £1,700-per-month for her designer clothes and handbags.They also shell out £1,500 a month for her designer clothes, shoes and handbags, and £700 on haircuts.
Miss Fernee pays £80 a week to work out at the gym and spends £1,000 a month on socialising.She said her critics were ‘underestimating just what a curse good looks can be in the workplace’.