Hooters Official Disputes Two Suits Claiming Weight Discrimination

The Detroit News

By Catherine Jun
June 2, 2010

Roseville -- Two lawsuits by former Hooters servers claiming weight discrimination at the Roseville location are groundless, a representative of Hooters of America Inc. said today.

"There's no case in the first lawsuit, and there's no case in the second," said Mike McNeil, vice president of marketing for Hooters of America, at a press conference at the restaurant on Gratiot.

This is the first time the Atlanta-based corporation has directly responded to the lawsuit filed on May 24 by Cassandra Smith, 20, of Roseville. Smith said her civil rights were violated when she was placed on "weight probation" during an annual evaluation and offered a gym membership. She maintains she actually lost 12 pounds during her two years working there.

At the press event outside the restaurant, McNeil said the restaurant chain had no intention of settling Smith's case, which he claimed had no merit since she herself admitted she was not explicitly asked to "lose weight," nor was any disciplinary action taken against her.

He added, however, that Hooters girls are responsible for maintaining their "image," just as other entertainers.

He was flanked by three lip-glossed "Hooters girls" wearing the restaurant's signature short-shorts and plunging tank tops.

Minutes after the press conference began, a second lawsuit was filed against the restaurant by another former Hooters server. The suit, in Macomb County Circuit Court, says Leanne Convery, 23, of Harrison Township was placed on "weight probation" and eventually fired when she did not comply, said her attorney, Richard Bernstein.

According to Convery's complaint, she was told on July 6, 2009, that she had 30 days to make her extra small uniform fit more properly or she would be terminated.

The suit says Convery went on a crash diet and lost 15 pounds, but was still terminated Aug. 10 after being told she showed "no improvement."

Convery was 4 foot 11 inches and 115 pounds when she was terminated, Bernstein said.

Convery said in a phone interview this afternoon that she worked at the Roseville location for 5 1/2 years and that her weight had fluctuated after she had a baby.

After her July evaluation last year, she took diet pills -- a common practice among servers at the restaurant, she said -- and ran on treadmills until nearly passing out.

"I was bound and determined I wasn't going to lose my job," she said. Convery now works as an assistant manager at a perfume shop.

Convery said she first heard the term "weight probation" when the restaurant's general manager, Rob Rice, explained why she was being terminated.

"It was a shock to me," Convery said. "Even though the measure I went to wasn't right, I still felt I looked good."

In a brief interview at the restaurant this afternoon, Rice disputed Convery's account of the conversation when she was let go. Rice said he never used the term "weight probation."

When asked why she was let go, Rice said he could not recall.

Convery said Smith, a friend, had approached her about taking action. "I thought at first I didn't have anything to go on," Convery said. "I didn't believe in myself enough to come forward and tell my story."

McNeil said there was no "weight probation" policy at Hooters restaurants, and said he had never heard the term until Smith mentioned it in news reports.

Yet in an affidavit provided to the Bernstein firm, 23-year-old Melissa Jacquiemain, another former server at the Roseville eatery, said she had heard the term while she worked as a bartender and server until March 2010.

On May 24, the Farmington Hills-based Bernstein Law Firm filed suit on behalf of Smith, who says her managers told to improve her "uniform fit" and offered her a gym membership. Smith, of Roseville, is 5 feet 8 inches, weighs 132.5 pounds and had worn an extra small uniform since the start of her employment two years ago. In the lawsuit, she says she has lost about 12 pounds since she was recruited.

Michigan's civil rights employment law is the only one in the country that explicitly states "weight" as a factor upon which employers cannot take action.