Workers advised to 'dress down' for NATO summit

CHICAGO, May 8 (UPI) -- Workers at some downtown Chicago office buildings are being advised to "dress down" to avoid confrontations with anti-NATO protesters this month.

Thousands of demonstrators are expected to march in the streets during the May 20 and 21 meeting of world leaders and tenants at one office tower received a memo urging workers not to wear suits, ties or anything with a corporate logo during the summit. A memo handed out a 1 East Wacker Drive advised workers to dress down to "look like a protester," Crain's Chicago Business reported Tuesday.

"Some of the tenants have discussed it," Mark Anderson, director of security for Chicago property management firm Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., told Crain's. "It really comes down to their comfort level. There's no data out there to substantiate somebody being targeted or hassled because of their affiliation with their firm or their occupation."

The Shedd Aquarium, The Field Museum of Natural History and at several downtown bank branches plan to close during the summit.