Former Waitress Files Suit Against Hooters for Weight Discrimination - WXYZ-TV

WXYZ TV – Detroit
May 24, 2010

News Anchor Stephen Clark:

Hooters is being served with a lawsuit by a former Detroit area employee. She says management told her to lose weight or lose her job. Action News reporter Dave Lewallen has the story from Farmington Hills.

News Reporter Dave Lewallen:

Cassie Smith says it was humiliating to be told she needed to lose weight to keep her job as a Hooters girl. Smith is 20 years old, 5‘8“ tall, and 132^1/2 pounds.

Cassie Smith:

I’m a strong woman so I feel like someone needs to stand up to it because girls just back down to it and they either: (a) lose the weight to fit the requirements, or (b) quit because they are humiliated.

News Reporter Dave Lewallen:

Now a lawsuit has been filed on Smith’s behalf in circuit court in Macomb County. Mark Bernstein says Michigan law is on her side.

Attorney Mark Bernstein:

They’re a very calculating company. They never use the word weight. It’s widely known in her employment that it’s called weight probation. There are other women who have been fired because of this, and so this is case that’s about making sure that civil rights laws in Michigan are applied and are followed. Nobody is above them.

News Reporter Dave Lewallen:

Smith said she previously received positive job performance reviews in her two years at Hooters and had been promoted to shift leader. Hooters has yet to receive the lawsuit, but restates to Action News: “No employee in Michigan has been asked to lose weight and that the company does not enforce any weight requirement.”

Cassie Smith:

Being told that you don’t fit the uniform anymore when you haven’t changed after two years is kind of like a slap in your face. It’s really, really a horrible feeling.

News Reporter Dave Lewallen:

Smith has not been back to work since her performance review. She is seeking damages in excess of $25,000. In Farmington Hills, Dave Lewallen, Channel 7 Action News.