August 26, 2010
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Too Fat to be a Hooters Girl
Two women are suing Hooters after they were fired for being too fat for the job.
The women are saying their “civil rights were violated.” A 1976 law bans “weight discrimination.”
The owners of the Hooters organization believe that the waitresses are “entertainers.” Here is the link: Link
Is it discrimination to fire a Hooters Girl if she becomes fat?
Comments (86)
Nope.
What?! I know some pretty hefty ladies that work for Hooters…
But no it is technically not discrimination.
I suppose since they singled out a certain appearance…. but hooters is famous for girls who are hot.
:/ I know it’s wrong, but I see where Hooter’s is coming from.
No. the managers can say whatever they want- they claim they have good food too but that doesn’t make it true.
Yes, but think of it this way: how many people that go to Hooters for the girls want to see someone who’s overweight?
nope, they can be as fat as they wanna be, as long as its all in the chest.
Well it would make their boobs even bigger so I’m not sure what the problem is… I’m certain not all guys like their women thin, especially if they’ve got a nice rack
I’m sure there’s a weight limit in the job description. So, I’m sure they already knew they had to maintain a certain size.
That’s ridiculous. They work at HOOTERS… They can’t honestly say they didn’t think looks were an issue! o.O I mean honestly. <,<
I say bravo to the managers… Noooooooooobody wants to see an overweight girl in those clothes. Just the thought is enough to make one loose their appetite. *shudder*
idk about the particular articule your referring too, but this has happened before. There were, i want to say 3females, who were put on ‘probation’. The thing though, was one of them was wearing a Small or X-Small uniform. I would understand if the females couldnt fit into the largest size the uniform came in, but if they have a Medium size, why not just give them a bigger uniform? && If you want to tell me that a Medium is ‘TOO’ big for hooters, then i have nothing to say to you.
Nope – because they arent hired as ‘waitresses’ so they can designate it. The girls are told that up front!
I think they should be allowed to hire within a size range ,weight varies so much.
Just for the record,the girls in the Hooters I was at looked NOTHING like those,some were were fat, some flat and some downright homely.
I would rather see a chubby girl who is pretty than hire a thinner girl who was the right weight but happens to be ugly looking.
Weight isn’t everything, good looks in general should apply…teeth,boobs,nice hair not to mention manners and personality.
I’m finding it hard to believe that these girls didn’t know that had to remain attractive to remain employed.
absolutely not. They are hired to look good and be sexy. No one wants an ugly waitress at hooters.
American Eagle is the same way. My sis had a friend that was assist manager there and the company told them that they don’t want ugly people on the floor. If the management felt the person wasn’t pretty enough then they were hired as a backstock person and stayed in the backroom and only came out if necessary.
If you don’t want to be judged based on looks, you probably shouldn’t be working at Hooters.
It IS. But they should have it in the contract so that it isn’t.
And they didn’t have to fire her, they could have put her somewhere else…?
Besides .. those 3 in the photo are Budweiser models.
Why?!?! AM I always the last one to comment on your posts, Dan!?!?! ugh ha!
Um, yes. To fire someone for “becoming ‘fat’” and no other reason is weight discrimination. Better yet, I’ll bet pretty much anything that the women they fired weren’t even overweight. Hooters is a crock of sh*t that needs to die.
It’s a dog-eat-dog economy. I’ve been looking for a year and a half for a job. Employers everywhere are saying they have too many. I’m going to be a devil’s advocate and say it smells like pretext.
I’m too fat to EAT at Hooters.
i guess, but then again it IS hooters so…
No, because appearance is part of their job description. If it was the 99 it would be discrimination, but when you apply to Hooters I’m pretty sure you know going in your looks are a part of why you’re hired.
Surely the girls weren’t naive enough to believe that they would remain employed for their personalities? They work at Hooter’s. The place makes money off of appearance.
I don’t even have a problem with weight discrimination depending on the environment. If they’re a teacher, nurse, sales clerk? Then it’s wrong. But if their image is important- sports equipment store, Hooters, model- then it’s not discrimination. They aren’t fit for the job.
Perfectly legal discrimination.
Not really, no. If they have girls applying that they think look better and will draw more/better attention to their restaurant, then they have the right to let them go. It’s not personal, it’s business.
P.S.
It’s hooters… you have to meet the requirement for appearance. Hell I couldn’t work there, I’m a 34A… barely lol. It wouldn’t be hired because I don’t meet the requirements, nothing personal.
The girls should know that going into the job they have to maintain a certain image and if they fail to live up to that image, you get fired. It’s part of the job, they better suck it up and deal with it.
i’m surpised i’m one of the few people to think it is.
I think it depends entirely upon what the girls were told when they were hired. If they were TOLD they couldn’t get above a certain size, then no, it’s not discrimination. However, if they were not told, then it is, because as much as we think the girls should have known that you can’t get ‘fat’ and work at Hooters, they may not have known. I mean, you’re talking about a country where some people need the label “caution: hot” on their coffee. Things have to be stated because there are some people who just don’t get stuff like this otherwise.
No.
I don’t really care about the issue. I just came ’cause I knew you’d have a great picture up.
these girls are from my city and i’ve seen them both. they are not fat ! i really think it was a personality thing. they were both hired by a bar down the street.
dunno,, never been there…
Who cares? I’m more interested in knowing what the classification of servers as entertainers means. Maybe it means that a class action suit needs to be filed against Hooters for back wages owed on the basis that the servers were paid as servers and not entertainers, who would receive an hourly or flat-rate wage that isn’t subsidized by tips.
Entertainers, eh? That explains why the service sucks.
@quasarglow - Exactly. I don’t get why anyone would want to work there, anyway, and having drunk men look at their chests all the time. How degrading.
Given the business they’re actually in (adult entertainment,) it’s not a non-merit quality.
But if they were in the business they usually claim to be in (family restaurant,) it would be.
I’d have to know more about the situation on the ground to make a proper legal call, but I’m of the opinion that Hooters either needs to pay out on discrimination claims like this or start turning away anyone under 18 at the door. They’ve been having their cake and eating it too for far, far too long.
I think it would be very difficult to prove.
Hooters girls are there to look at. Who wants to look at someone who barely fits into their teeny tiny uniform? I sure as hell don’t. Although I have seen some pretty busted looking Hooters girls in the past, but never a fat one.
Working for that company, you should automatically know you’ve got to look a certain way.
i actually find the girls rather distracting and take away from the taste of the food. I wouldn’t. mind if they wore more clothes.
having said that, strictly in terms of how rules go… looking good is part of being a hooters girls; just like an athlete who can’t perform is dropped from a team, or a NFL cheerleader is dropped b/c they have 1% more body fat than the next girl..
it seems ridiculous to me, but I understand it from a business standpoint.
um yea…..the one on the far right is a little heavy to be a hooters girl. i beleive hooters has the right to make that call.
Nope.
well, there are some guys that like “big” girls! peace, Al
What @seedsower - said. I couldnt agree more.
I’m really sick of people pulling the discrimination card ALL the time… It had to have been in their contract, they had to have known. I mean when you think of Hooters what do you see in your mind? Hot babes and Hot wings… Today apperence, I hate to say, is a crucial part of just about everything. I mean is a gym gonna hire a 300lbs personal trainer? Absolutely not. Looks are part of your apparel now. You can’t be a business man/woman without a suit now can you? Some places have requirements and it is obvious they do. I personally have never seen an non-thin Hooters girl.
Well, weight discrimination is not okay of course..however, everyone knows what Hooter’s is so honestly I didn’t get up in arms when I read about it like I would have with another employer. The termination wasn’t out of the clear blue sky. It was brought to their attention, allegedly one of the girls “being told by her managers to “improve her uniform fit” and being offered a gym membership”. It says both girls were told to “make their uniform fit more properly”. As someone who is struggling with 7 -10 extra pounds myself, losing a little weight so my jeans that I wear to work (part of my uniform, so to speak) is not a huge impossible challenge (especially with a gym membership!), especially when I’ve been wearing these jeans all along. The link doesn’t say, but there’s a big difference between those girls wearing the same uniforms all this time and gaining some weight landing them in “weight probation” progressing to termination and someone being hired in at say 120 pounds and then being fired weighing 150, trading up uniform sizes over time. Those girls knew it was Hooter’s when they were hired in. I don’t support their side in a lawsuit.
The hooters I went to did not have girls like that working there, may I add. It was a smaller city so I guess it was all they could round up.
The worst things were the wings though. That was what we went there for and the wings were AWFUL! Bland, dry, tough. Never again.
It is not a civil rights violation, that’s for sure; only if there’s a separate law that applies to private businesses.
And in any case, Hooters has a standing dress code etc. as part of their hiring and firing policy — so, due process and all that.
I’ll let the lawyers decide that one.
Depends on what size they were and how fat they got..really. I can’t judge on this. If it’s just a little weight then…Yes, it’s completely wrong. If not, then…
Those women are HOT!
These ladies will not win their case in my honest opinion. They have a business trying to show a certain imagine, and its not fat chicks. =/
I wonder what they consider “too fat”.
Hooters is about image. It’s the entertainment business.
If a stripper was fired for gaining too much weight, would anyone blink an eye? No, because people want to pay to see hot (or at least semi-hot) people strip.
It is wrong, but they took a job knowing that it was based on their looks.
Who wants to look at a fat chick in tight orange short-shorts? Really? Yuck…I’m not hungry for wings anymore.
It depends on what they consider fat. If the girls were a little thick and had some curves, then yeah, that’s wrong. But if the bitches were fuckin’ huge, I think that’s okay. Nobody wants a huge fatty in booty shorts leaning over their table.
Yes, it’s discrimination. However, the girl should know that if you’re a Hooters girl you have to keep in shape. BUT, that doesn’t mean she should get fired.
It’s all about the image of what the establishment wants to portray and gain more customers. Sex sells. Technically, it is discrimination. I know some large girls that are damn hot and can put the skinny girls to shame.
Hooters isn’t staffed by owls? WTF?
If it says in their contract that they are entertainers, then yeah, they can. If not, then no.
Personally though, I think it is discrimination.
well, they set standards for the workers. Its like if i come to my work (food stuff) with my hair all over the place and open toed shoes. i’d get fired too. i think its fair. xD
No, Hooters hires them to fulfill a specific function and if they can’t fulfill it then they have the right to dismiss them. The same goes for any other kind of job.
Discrimination implies differential treatment for a quality or attribute that is uncontrollable i.e. mental retardation or skin color.
Weight is an entirely controllable quality. The manager’s business revolves around hiring attractive females in order to, say it with me now, ATTRACT male customers to eat their crappy wings and disgusting fried pickles. Just like you can’t sue somebody because you came to work naked and got fired, being fat is no grounds to pursue legal action, especially if the entire point of your job is to have an alluring physique.
Well I live in a state where employees can fire you at any time for any reason. So that wouldn’t work out here.
I had looked into what you have to do to be a hooters girl. I looked at their application and contract, etc and basically the job description basically says no to fat girls. So, no it’s not discrimination. It’s a pretty shitty job thought where sexual harrasment, though not clearly stated that way, is part of the job.
@quasarglow - Ditto!
Frankly I feel Hooters should start another business with good looking young men to wait on people yeahhhh babyyy
A place where cougars can go and drool LOL Just sayin….and dreaming…LOL
great. hire the fat people then fire them for doing a poor job of attracting customers.
No it’s not discrimination. Not being fat is one of their criteria when hiring.
Its their business…..shouldn’t they be able to hire who they want? What happened to private ownership? Guess I am WAY out of the loop…..or too damn Libertarian for my own good
Why do they want to work at Hooter’s anyway? I’ll discriminate and say those women are whores! Why don’t they just work at a regular restaurant? Because they want to be known as sex objects.
No. Companies have standards on how their employees look. If I came to my workplace wearing my pajamas, I would probably get fired. I remembered the “natural” look that I was told I had to maintain if I worked for Hollister and that meant I couldn’t dye my hair unnatural colors. If it’s part of the job description, then I don’t think it’s driscriminatory. Those files are there for a reason. It means that I can’t hire a monkey to do a human’s job. So if a monkey applied, I’d have to say “sorry, only humans can do this job.” It’s not that I’m a specie-ist. It’s just that the job requires things that only humans can do.
I understand if she had gained weight since she was hired. but she was 10 pounds lighter when they told her that she weighed too much. I am not fat and i am trimmer than a lot of people i know. but i am shorter than her and weigh more. she was 5’8″ and 132 pounds! if she lost much more weight she would be undereight!
@Queen_of_You188 - agreed,
@princessremy - yay
no – lol it’s hooters – no fat chicks allowed for waitress / hostess
Every company has standards that go with the brand. If a company demands attention to detail, you fire someone who is lazy and does a half-ass job. If a job demands you get things done quickly and efficiently, you fire people who are slow and who don’t perform well. Hooters (however chauvinist and objectifying of women it is) has standards for looks. Their brand IS the looks of the women who work there. If they didn’t like that policy, they should lose weight, or work somewhere else. They probably didn’t appreciate being told they were fat-what woman would-but standards are standards. Plenty of other girls meet those standards. Why should they be special?
I would like to know what they consider overweight and if it is in fact part of a contract…
To get fired from anywhere for being overweight is discrimination. Besides, I bet there are tons of guys who like big women. Hooter’s, therefore, is doing a disservice by firing larger girls
On a related note, I find it hilarious that the Hooters in my neighbourhood went out of business. Bahaha. I love Canada.
I think it’s some what normal to be not hired for appearance. But fired..? I’m not so sure. I’ve grown up to know that Hooters’ waitresses are busty. I’m not so sure if they should be fired for that.
What? How is that discrimination at all? Just because we’re firing people solely based on a describing factor that has absolutely nothing to do with how well they perform their job…
Seriously, why does management care? I’m sure they get customers who would prefer heavier women. And if they don’t like their waitress, it’s not Hooters that will suffer – it’ll come out of the girl’s tip. Sad but true.
They gave them 30 days and free gym access, so that was fair.
I want my Hooters girls with some heft!
I hate Hooters, and refuse to go there, because of the way they treat women. That being said, the women knew what they were getting in to. You’re hired for looks, you lose them, you get canned. It would be the same thing if you’re hired to be a freaking astronaut, and you eff yourself up, guess what? You can’t be an astronaut anymore. (Not that I think Hooters waitress and astronauts are on the same level, at all.) It’s a job where you already know you’re only value is based on how you look, and your willingness to get by on looks wearing shorts so short you have to wear a hairnet. They shouldn’t be surprised.