Coworker of the cosplayer; I saw the whole thing go down. So perhaps I can clarify a few things I’ve seen brought up in other comments:

-Our employer’s dress code, codified in the employee handbook, lists no specifics whatsoever. It only states that employees must dress professionally for the duties to which they are assigned. The specific “banned items” were, as others mentioned and as is stated in the article, augmented in an office memo (i.e., not a policy change which would impact all offices of our employer) after this employee had been working here for some time. Those provisions were not part of the employee handbook at the time of this employee signing her contract, nor are they included in the handbook at this time.

-We have absolutely no customer interaction except through the intervening media of a computer screen and very occasionally a telephone which, despite the Vulcan garb on display, has not yet been upgraded to viewscreen capability. Literally nobody but our coworkers ever sees us except on our way to and from work. We could easily do this job from home, in our underwear, with a laptop and a VPN, except that would deprive our bosses of the fun of being able to nitpick our wardrobe when it suits them.

-The prohibition on “cultural head wraps” has since been lifted, so somebody must have realized the tone-deafness of that particular verbiage. Straps, hats, sandals, hoodies, and lace are still out, though, even for those of us that grew up watching Raiders of the Lost Ark and for which hats inspire particular reverence. I’m still waiting to hear back from the EEOC about not being allowed to wear my bullwhip and fedora (not the MRA kind! the Indy kind!) to work.

-The comm badge was most definitely on the left, or I’m sure I would have said something too. The pics were most likely mirrored for effect, or possibly the evil goatee was erased in Photoshop.