Thursday, August 26, 2010
Weight Discrimination at Hooters
The WSJ Law Blog has a story on a Michigan weight discrimination claim against a local Hooter's restaurant. According to the complaint, which a judge has just allowed to proceed:
In a performance evaluation this earlier year, [the plaintiff] claims in her complaint, a restaurant manager advised her “to join a gym in order to lose weight and improve her looks so that she would fit better into the extra small-sized uniform.” She alleged she was put on a 30-day “weight probation” and resigned.
The official uniform for Hooters waitresses, she claims, comes in 3 sizes: extra extra small, extra small, or small.
The case falls under Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which has prohibited employment discrimination based on height and weight (among other factors) since 1976. I'll admit that I didn't know that had been around that long. I also wonder whether anyone has a list of all the states with height and weight discrimination laws--there can't be a lot.
Hat Tip: John Rodgers
-JH
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/laborprof_blog/2010/08/weight-discrimination-at-hooters.html
DC has a protected class of "personal appearance"; though not intended to, it has been applied to weight...
Posted by: Seth | Aug 26, 2010 8:37:30 AM