snarkosaurus

I know MANY major hospitals around the country have switched to a color-coded system based on discipline (RNs wear navy blue, PCTs wear light blue, etc.). The hospital I work for has been discussing making such a change for several months, and in December 2013, came out with the list of the designated colors. The effective date for the new policy was to be March 1, 2014, so many of us started purchasing new scrubs in our assigned colors so as to avoid dropping a large amount of money in April. Last week, the final version of the policy was sent out... Not only are we required to wear a specific color, but we're also required to wear a specific BRAND which MUST be purchased from ONE vendor. Scrub tops are also REQUIRED to be embroidered (or have an embroidered patch stitched on) with the hospital logo, and we will have to pay the extra expense for the embroidery. We are NOT being compensated for the purchase of our scrubs, although we are getting a discount (27%) from the vendor. The final sale price of our scrubs has not yet been announced. To allow for us to comply with the new changes, the new effective date has been pushed back to March 31, 2014. Has anyone got any idea if this is even legal? I understand that requiring set colors is legal, but also dictating the brand and vendor?? I'm planning on calling a few lawyers who practice in employment law, but I was curious if anyone had similar experiences out there.