U.S.A.
Everyone Else
Health
Science
Business
Technology
Sports
Video Games
Entertainment
Future
NEWS > BUSINESS > HOOTERS SUED OVER LACK OF MALE SERVERS
HOOTERS SUED OVER LACK OF MALE SERVERS
July 2 2009
Clearwater, FL – Like many things in the modern world it was the Romans who invented the concept of the restaurant. Establishing to the first eateries in Alexandria and Jerusalem, the idea of eating in public with strangers took a long time to catch on
– further appearances did not occur until the late 10th century – but have now become a standard part of the modern world. With almost as many varieties of restaurants as dishes, the concept of public eateries has become so commonplace that most people can’t imagine a world without them.
Amongst the big name chains, specifically fast food outlets such as McDonald’s, many smaller and niche oriented chains have sprung up. Everything from Nazi inspired theme restaurants to eateries that function entirely in the dark entrepreneurs have never been short of 
ideas when it comes to eateries. There is perhaps no more successful niche restaurant than Hooters which has grown from a single building to over 400 in the United States and dozens more across the world. The success of the chain has no doubt been its formula of blending appetizing bar food and large boobs but now that formula may be at risk if a recently filed lawsuit gains a foothold.
“We believe that Hooters Inc. has conspired to exclude a huge segment of the population based on nothing more than their gender. While we do respect the right of employers to make executive decisions on whom they do or do not hire the case law is very clear in respect to prejudice based on factors such as race, religion, or sex,” said Bryan Forrest, lawyer for the plaintiff who has not been named. “These laws exist in order to prevent situations where people’s employment status is decided based on factors that they have little or no control over. We are seeking what we feel is a very reasonable settlement which will of course will include employment.” 
Hooters has routinely employed male employees for behind the scenes positions but servers in all its locations are female, something intrinsic to its appeal.
“We have received the brief and will be responding to it in our own time. Hooters has always prided itself on its hiring practices and have established ourselves as one of the largest employers of women under the age of twenty-five in the country. We reserve the right to assess each individual applicant based on his or her qualifications and appearance does play part in that decision making process,” said a spokesperson for the company. “We believed that this suit constitutes a significant threat to our business model and could compromise our ability to provide the quality employment we have provided for almost thirty years. Hooters is the premiere independent restaurateur in the country and has become so because of our people.”
Hooters has experienced employment challenges in the past including lawsuit in 1997 by three men which provoked a change in hiring practices for support jobs such as bartenders. A similar suit was filed in Texas earlier this year, again by an unnamed man.
“Certainly they have made decisions on who is and who is not eligible for serving
positions but that is the appeal of the restaurant. The food is at best mediocre so the main reason to go to the restaurant is, well, the boobs and without those the company will likely suffer a significant decline in their patronage, something which could be devastating in this economy,” said Scrape TV Legal analyst Gabe Hawthorne. “The issue for the courts though is whether or not they are employing prejudicial employment practices. If big breasts and nice legs constitute a significant part of their business model then they could end up with a win, but if they define themselves as a restaurant then they are going to run into trouble.”
Advocacy groups for ugly and fat women are reportedly also watching the proceedings very carefully.
William Ashford, Business Correspondent
NEWS > BUSINESS > HOOTERS SUED OVER LACK OF MALE SERVERS
|
