Hooter's Waitress put on Probation for Gaining Too Much Weight.

Hooters' waitress of Detroit was recently put on probation for gaining too much weight. She says she was called into her manager's office who if I may say so myself is not a small man, for her annual review. He, along with a district manager told her that though she had received high marks for customer service and other general items, she had low marks in her uniform "fitting correctly." This surprised her because the 5'8 132lb waitress had been working there for 2 years and had been in the smallest size (extra small) the entire time. Though she had gained a few pounds she was far from being overweight and all of this could have easily been rectified by maybe putting her in a size bigger uniform.


After being told her uniform didn't fit right, she was told that she would be given a 30 day free gym membership and if her weight did not decrease within a 60 day probationary period she would be separated from the company. Prior to all of this the waitress went home crying, this girl who once had great self esteem and loved her job was being shut down by a place she felt comfortable. Her mother advised her to quit, and she agreed. She did not return to work, and her story hit the national headlines. Lawyers began approaching her and offering to take on her case against the Hooters establishment.


Everyone has probably heard of this story by now as it was on almost all of the local news channels. I have heard many sides to this case and most of them are from people who believe the same way I did at first. A majority of the people believe that this young girl should have known when she began working that there were standards for her weight and appearance, and she should have continued to adhere to these standards. When I actually began thinking about it, and looking into this girl's case I realized that my first assumption was morbidly stupid. A girl who is obviously under the size of the average American being fired for her weight has got to be illegal. Right?



Let's look at it from the perspective I had at first: The Dallas Cowgirls have a standard for how they must look. Duh they will get fired for not adhering to those standards, on the other hand we could also say that cheering is a sport and in order to play a sport you have to be physically fit. Is waitressing a sport? I think not.



From my new and improved point of view: How can we say that it is legal for a business to discriminate based on weight just because it doesn't fit their image? If I opened a restaurant and said I didn't want any black people working there because it didn't fit the appearance I wanted my establishment to have I would be sued for racial discrimination. But these people are saying that it is not sexist to put a girl who is actually under the national average on probation because she has gained a few pounds? Someone please explain to me what this country is coming to!

I wish this girl all the luck in the world. I mean look at these pictures. She is not overweight and she does not look bad in her uniform. Now look at the picture of her manager. The one who called her in for her annual review and told her she was overweight. Ironic huh?