Simply stateside: strange gaps in lavatory doors in America

Some excitement in our US office with the installation of new lavatory doors that now reach to the ceiling and the ground.  This closet discussion has been running for some years and its resolution marks a heady advance in transatlantic negotation.  The story begins with the bewildered British wondering why the cubicles need to show the shoes and feet of the poor user in the office loos.  It transpires that the landlord states it is a union regulation and indeed these gappy cublicle doors seem to be a feature of public buildings in the US.  Some believe this is because it makes for easier cleaning with a mop.   Others speculate that the cost of repair to the units (that are typically unloved as there is no private ownership of them) is cheaper than if a full door was available.  Or that the cleaners charge piece rate by the room and that a full door would mean each cubicle becomes a room. Privacy has now been introduced which is considered no small triumph in the land of insistent rules and regulations in office life.  Nothing petty about that.