Gender Discrimination Suit Filed by Male Applicant Against Hooters
On February 5, 2009, a Texas man filed a gender discrimination lawsuit in Federal court against Hooters of America, Inc. (“Hooters”) after the chain restuarant denied him a job as a server in May 2008. The claim seeks an injunction to stop Hooters from “discriminating against male applicants for the [server] position,” as well as an unspecified amount of money, including emotional and punitive damages.
The claim challenges an 11-year-old agreement, in which Hooters paid $3.75 million in a 2007 employment discrimination class action suit settlement. Although Hooters agreed to create gender-neutral positions such as kitchen staff and bartender positions, the 1997 settlement allowed Hooters to continue to exclusively hire women as servers. The current suit alleges that the adopted policy remains discriminatory, and even though Hooters servers are referred to as “Hooters Girls,” the positions should not be limited to women.
Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it is unlawful to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. However, if Hooters can prove that it is a bona fide occupational qualification for a server to be female, then it is legally permissible for Hooters to discriminate against males for positions as servers.
