Hooters

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Hooters is the registered trademark used by two American restaurant chains: Hooters, Inc., based in Clearwater, Florida, and Hooters of America, Inc. based in Atlanta, Georgia.[1]

The waiting staff at Hooters restaurants are primarily young women, usually referred to simply as "Hooters Girls", with revealing outfits and sex appeal are played up and are a primary component of the company's image. The company employs men and women as cooks, hosts (at some franchises), busboys, and managers. The menu sold includes hamburgers and other sandwiches, steaks, seafood entrees, appetizers, and the restaurant's specialty, chicken wings. Almost all Hooters restaurants hold alcoholic beverage licenses to sell beer and wine, and where local permits allow, a full liquor bar.[1]

Farryn Johnson former employee of Hooters experienced racist treatment October 2013

Racist Incident

Hooters racist incident, a black woman has allegedly been fired from her job because of her blonde highlights. Farryn Johnson told Maryland’s CBS News affiliate that she was let go from her job as a waitress at Hooters due to ‘“improper image” after the girl refused to remove blonde highlights from her dark brown hair. “They gave me write-ups and they told me I need to take the color out of my hair. And they said I couldn’t have blonde in my hair because I’m black. They specifically said, ‘Black women don’t have blonde in their hair, so you need to take it out,'” said Johnson.[2]

“I didn’t see that it would be a big issue just because there were a lot of other employees working at the restaurant of other races with color in their hair. For instance, there were Asian girls with red hair and Caucasian girls with black hair and blond streaks so I didn’t think it would be an issue for the little piece of blond highlight in my hair.”[3]

“The law is clear that employers can’t have two separate unequal sets of rules—one for African-Americans employees and one for everybody else, and yet that’s exactly what Hooters did here in firing Miss Johnson, an African-American employee solely because she’s African-American. They targeted her because of her hair solely because of her race,” Johnson’s attorney, Jessica Weber said.

Johnson sued, and later in April 2015, an arbitrator awarded her more than $250,000 for lost wages and legal fees. Arbitrator Edmund D. Cooke Jr. wrote that Hooters violated state and federal civil rights laws and that the hair policy "was implemented in a discriminatory manner adversely affecting African-American women."[4]

Hooters' Response

A week after the lawsuit, Hooters responded to the controversy. “When you’re representing an iconic brand there are standards to follow. Hooters Girls are required to be camera-ready at all times to promote the glamorous, wholesome look for which Hooters is known. Hooters adamantly denies that it has different policies and standards for hair based on race. As a global brand, Hooters embraces our culturally diverse employee base and our standards are applied impartially.” Rebecca Sinclair, Chief Human Resources Officer, Hooters of America

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Hooters. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  2. Former Hooters Waitress Claims She Was Target Of Racial Discrimination Over Hair. CBS Baltimore. 21 October 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  3. Wilson, Julee. Black Woman Fired From Hooters Because Of Blonde Highlights. Huff Post. 22 October 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  4. Chuck, Elizabeth. Former Hooters Waitress Awarded $250,000 in Racial Discrimination Case. NBC News. 8 April 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2021.