Roseville Woman Sues Hooters

Ex-waitress: They said lose weight or get out

Detroit Free Press

By Steve Neavling, Free Press Staff Writer
May 25, 2010

A 20 year-old former Hooters waitress who said she was placed on probation to lose weight filed an antidiscrimination lawsuit Monday against the restaurant chain.

The suit in Macomb County Circuit Court claims Hooters of America violated Cassie Smith’s civil rights on May 14 when managers at the Roseville eatery and corporate employees threatened to fire her if she didn’t lose enough weight during a 30-day probation period to fit into a size extra-small uniform. She said she was offered a gym membership, and that a small uniform was too baggy.

Hooters’ headquarters in Atlanta denied anyone from the company or restaurant asked Smith to lose weight and said waitresses aren’t held to a weight standard. It claims she was never placed on probation.

Smith, who said she is 5 feet 8 and weighs 132 pounds, no longer works at the restaurant. “To lose any weight, it’s putting my health at risk,” she said.

The suit, filed by the Sam Bernstein Law Firm in Farmington Hills, claims the chain violated the Michigan Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act that bars employers from discrimination on the basis of religion, marital status, race, gender, age, height, and weight.

Her attorney, Richard Bernstein, said the case could set a legal precedent that would end discrimination based on appearance.

Hooters may try to claim waitresses are not protected under the civil rights act because they are considered “entertainers” who must meet specific qualifications, Bernstein and attorneys specializing in employment issues said.

“Any such exception would have to ride on it being ‘reasonably necessary’ to the business,” said J.J. Prescott, a professor of law at the University of Michigan. “The main purpose” of a Hooters’ waitress “is to serve food safely and efficiently. A waitress’ weight, within a huge range, is irrelevant to this purpose.”