Waitresses 'forced to weigh in' sue bosses for $15m

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2359902,00.html

Waitresses 'forced to weigh in' sue bosses for $15m
From James Bone in New York
A NEW YORK hotspot has been accused of forcing female employees on to the scales in an extreme attempt to keep its waitresses slim.

Female staff at the Sutton Place Bar and Restaurant on the East Side of Manhattan claim that they were forcibly weighed so that managers could monitor their body mass, which they then posted on the internet.

Two former waitresses are suing for $15 million (£8 million) damages. The three-floor nightspot on Second Avenue at 53rd Street boasts four bars, including a rooftop terrace, that are often full. New York magazine describes it as an “all-purpose yuppie magnet”.

In their lawsuit, Kristen McRedmond, 27, and Alexandria Lipton, 25, say that they were fired because of sexual harassment that included groping and suggestive remarks.

FULL story at link above.

[madmusic]

1. Ironic

Just last night there was a segment on the news about forcing a designer to model heavier women on the runway.

[Shakespeare]

3. Not so much to model heavier women...

....as to bar dangerously thin/anorexic women. In light of what's going on at that bar, it makes Madrid's decision sound all the more reasonable. Good god...what the fuck kind of society are we.

[diamidue]

8. Weight is just a smokescreen.

What they are looking for are women of the "Hooters" sort. They said they are looking for women who will wear tight clothes. If you are too heavy, too thin, too old, not attractive enough - they don't want you. I hate articles like this because they always bring out the posters who love to bash and ridicule skinny people rather than the issues addressed in the article.

[Shakespeare]

10. What they are doing is a symptom of the larger problem....

...of creating a completely unrealistic "ideal" for women to be thin. I see VERY little bashing of thin people going on at DU (and note that I specified dangerously thin or anorexic). You will find very, very few instances in society as a whole of anybody being rejected for being too thin.

[heliarc]

29. IMHO

most of the people I know have a disgust for people who are very thin, and that isn't very constructive either. "Bashing people" or putting the kid gloves does not necessarily help the situation either.

[WCGreen]

7. ME, I likes the heavier womens.....

Them skinny ones could poke your eye out with an errant elbow, doncha know....

[Tace]

2. I Don't Care How Much My Waitresses Weigh

If I think about it, if they're too skinny, I might wonder if the food's any good. : )

[AlamoDemoc]

6. hahahaha..tha't a good one..Tace

[truthisfreedom]

4. just don't make me wait. that's all i ask. waitresses should be fun and

fast, but who cares what they weigh?

[minnesota_liberal]

32. Smile, get the order right, deliver it quickly, don't sneeze on the food

Weight doesn't matter unless she somehow steps on my foot.

[cspanlovr]

5. You'd swear the last 30 years never happened when you read stories like

this. Are people insane? Do they think they can do this and not face the consequences?

[silverweb]

9. Yes and yes.

Many of them.

:(

Insane and stupid.

[smirkymonkey]

24. New York is so fucked up when it comes to weight standards

for women. It's almost as bad as Hollywood in that sense, where a size 6 is fat. I can't tell you how many women I know revolve their entire LIFE around trying to be thin. It's all they talk about and think about - it's really twisted and unhealthy. I used to be one of them until I realized that I was throwing my life away and becoming a crashing bore in the process. Women like that are more boring than they can imagine.

Now I am a healthy size 8 and although I sometimes wish I was thinner, I am actually happier and feel more like a human being than I ever have. It's really sad though - some women will literally starve themselves to death to be considered "socially acceptible."

Personally, I think any guy who wants an anorexic woman is probably a closet case - and not I am not saying THIN, but anorexically thin.

[heliarc]

30. This goes on a lot in Las Vegas too from what I hear. n/t

[sugapablo]

11. *sigh* whatever

With women, it's their weight and chest.

With men, it's their height and hair (or lack thereof).

It's always something.

Does it suck? Yep.

But like it or not, certain businesses like to maintain a certain image. Now, so long as that image doesn't violate the five protected classes under the law (race, gender, etc.) then, while you might consider it a shitty thing to do, it's not something that should be or needs to be "regulated".

But from what I'm reading, it's not the weigh-in that's the source of this lawsuit, but the "groping and suggestive remarks". THAT'S the shit that's a problem here. 100% wrong. So having an article headline such as the one above is a bit misleading, albeit "sexier" and perhaps more attention grabbing than "2 Sue for Sexual Harrassment".


*sigh*

[Shakespeare]

13. But did they do the same to their male employees?

Unless the men who work there complain about being discriminated for the height or their hairline, then I call bullshit on your post. It's not "maintaining an image"--it's discrimination and harrassment.

[Truthiness Inspector]

15. I agree

And the waitresses' employers published their weight on the Internet.
Truly astounding.

[sugapablo]

20. You assume

they HAVE male employees that deal with the public.

Look, every NFL cheerleader has "weigh-ins". Not one of them ever complains. Lots of jobs are dependant on looks and appearance.

That's not a problem.

It's the sexual harrassment that is the problem and is what the lawsuit is based on, not the weigh-ins.

The issue of the weigh-ins is just to "sex up" the article to increase "buzz".

[sugapablo]

21. *laughs* and on the flip side...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SPAIN_SKINNY_MODELS?SITE=PAPIT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=home.htm

No one is ever happy. :)

Madrid Fashion Show Bans 5 Thin Models

"MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Organizers of Spain's top annual fashion show on Saturday rejected five models as being too thin to appear in this year's event.

The show, known as the Pasarela Cibeles, had decided earlier this month not to allow women below a predetermined body mass index to parade down the catwalk."


"This time the Madrid regional government decided to pressure organizers to hire fuller-figured women as role models for young girls obsessed with being thin, Concha Guerra, deputy finance minister of the regional administration, said earlier this month."


people suck :)

[Shakespeare]

23. I assumed nothing of the kind.

YOU are the one who pointed out that, gee, this is just something to be shrugged off, because men are held to certain physical standards. My point is that they aren't (regardless of whether the restaurant has any male employees).

The sexual harrassment is actionable. The weigh-ins are disgusting and wrong, and *may* be actionable.

My disgust is that we still have to put up with this shit in society. And yay to the folks in Madrid who are trying to move away from that ridiculous physical standard of skeletal = beauty.

[Scairp]

12. Really unbelievable

I don't know how these owners and managers thought they were going to get away with this. I hope it costs them MAJOR bucks.

[HockeyMom]

14. Flight Attendants

Years ago I wanted to be a flight attendant. In checking the requirements, I found that I was under the minimum height and my uncorrected eyesight was too poor. The weight requirement in proportion to height. They also had an age maximum.

Today, the height minimum has been lowered by 4 inches. At 5'2" I would now qualify. The vision requirement is still the same, but my vision has actually improved to their standard. The weight requirement was the same. There was nothing in the requirements about an age maximum now. In fact, in the picture they showed of attendants disembarking the plane, one clearly seemed to be well over the age of 40.

Has this industry become less discriminatory, or, just plain desperate?????

[Lydia Leftcoast]

25. Less discriminatory

Thirty years ago, flight attendants were fired upon reaching the age of 35. On some airlines, they were required to change clothes a couple of times during a flight, including getting into skimpy costumes. They hated it, because the more bozoish male passengers took their appearance as license to grope and make crude remarks.

There were Congressional hearings about it, and the airline executives were all saying, "Young, attractive flight attendants are more pleasing to the male business traveler."

And one Congresswoman demanded, "Are you running an airline or a whore house?"

The age restrictions and the skimpy uniforms disappeared shortly after that.

[happyslug]

26. Congresswoman Martha Griffith famous statement

A little more on her and the 1964 Civil Rights Act when it comes to Women.

http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/whm2001/griffith.html

[brook]

34. At American Airlines...

the standards were 5'6"; max weight 130 -yes, they'd weigh you when you reported in; hair kept above the collar; nails polished; no smoking in public and voluntary quit before 32 or marriage. I was written up twice -3x was automatic firing- for not changing back into my high heels upon landing. Both times , after midnight during turbulant flight from Chicago to Mexico.

At the time, there were a small number of attendants who'd been hired previous to the age rule -hence our saying:"Old stews never die -they just transfer to San Francisco".

[NotGivingUp]

35. "Are you running an airline or a whore house?" Oh, I love that!!!

How very true. I hate how sexist our society is, and it is daily promoted on tv. It's just become more and more prevalent that women are there for the T&A, for the way they look. I'm frigging sick of it. It's the rare show or movie that actually has the female roles that actually have some substance. I think it's a way to pit the sexes against each other and diminish women's role in society. It's truly pitiful.

[jmowreader]

36. They also had to be single

And back then they weren't called flight attendants, so for nostalgia's sake let's call them stewardesses just for this post.

Back in the good old days when I read Communication Arts magazine (one of the bibles of the advertising business and possibly the least recycled magazine in history because no one throws them away), they ran a retrospective of the Doyle Dane Bernbach agency. Bernbach is Bill Bernbach, who at the time was considered either the biggest maverick on Madison Avenue or the loosest cannon on deck depending on who you ask. DDB is the agency that launched Volkswagen, that launched and still reps McDonalds, that did the famous "plop, plop, fizz, fizz" and "mama mia, at'sa spicy meatball" campaigns for Alka-Seltzer. DDB's the Big Time, man, they sit up there with outfits like Saatchi and Saatchi, J. Walter Thompson and BBDO.

Anyway, one of the ads Communication Arts reprinted was an American Airlines ad...in which they pleaded with their customers to quit marrying the stewardesses, because they were running out.

[flyarm]

28. the requirements were eliminated by unions and the law..

there are no real weight restrictions now..except..a flight crew must be able to evacuate the aircraft in a time limit..out an emergency window which are smaller than the doors of the aircraft..if one can not get through the window in a Faa regulated time..they are not accepted or are grounded if already a crew member..

now the requirements are not on looks but safety ...

and there are many much older than 40..much much older..flight attendants do not have the same retirement requirements as pilots..as long as they can do all the safety requirements.. they can fly.
Pregnancy requirements for leave of absence is approx 6 months..

Height is usually if the flight crew can reach all emergency equipment in overhead bins while standing on the floor .....and can open the doors with the strength nessesary..


many of the vanity regulations were removed through law suits and unions..

oh and in recent times many of the airlines have hired people in the 40's as they work harder..and are more responsible..but there is no discrimination allowed.

fly ..

[kurth]

16. Good. Bankrupt the bastards

There is nothing wrong with a little meat on your bones - and some fat on your chest.

[Buns_of_Fire]

17. Suing for $15 million? That's ridiculous.

Sue 'em for $40 million. :evilgrin:

[LordLovesAWorkingMan]

27. Is someone's anger worth $15 million?

Their life, perhaps. Being humiliated is not cause to receive a multi-million dollar settlement. Who do you think ends up paying that?

You should cash in if you are maimed or if a loved one is killed by the negligence or malice of others. You should receive an apology, lawyers' fees, and missed pay if your feelings are hurt.

[heliarc]

31. While I agree that 15 million is too much...

There is a risk involved, and if the waitress loses her job (because we all know that she will) than there are significant costs that she will have to take on as a result of her flagrant and insolent desire for justice (god forbid)... I don't think 15 million is reasonable, but I think its reasonable to sue for maybe 500,000. The 15 million is also seen as a high mark that is used to enforce a desire on the defendant's side to settle.

[cap]

18. possible hippa violation???

health information is private and there are signed releases provided.

I dont think the women signed for release to the Internet.

[Shakespeare]

19. No, HIPAA wouldn't apply here.

It's just plain old sexual harassment.

[JI7]

22. if true i hope they win and the place goes out of business

[LordLovesAWorkingMan]

33. So everyone deserves to be punished and lose their job?

Busboys, too? Line cooks? People who had nothing to do with it? Yeah that'll show 'em, and then we can carp about the additions to the unemployment rolls...

[JI7]

37. other people can buy the business out

and those people can keep their jobs.

but this can be said about anything. the fact is if these women were harrassed than there has to be justice. they shouldn't have to put aside anything for fear of people getting hurt. there has to be a message.

why are the women being made out to be the bad ones in this