| Great68 | 09-15-2010 04:05 PM |
Shark Club Bartender alleges sex discrimination over dress code
Quote:
Shark Club bartender alleges sex discrimination over dress code
METRO VANCOUVER -- Provocative clothing has become a social norm and attractive servers wearing skimpy outfits are commonplace in many sports bars and restaurants. But form-fitting clothes and makeup should not be part of the dress code, a spokeswoman for the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association said Wednesday.
Gillian MacGregor said employers can impose a standard of cleanliness, but asking employees to wear form-fitting clothes, while not against the law, can exclude people with different body shapes who don't feel comfortable in snug attire.
"I don't think it is okay to ask employees to wear form-fitting skirts," MacGregor said.
"We don't want employers to make employees feel uncomfortable, or like they are sex objects. They are not. They are human beings who are doing a job, earning a living, and they have every right to do that, even if they have chubby knees or short hair or varicose veins."
A discrimination case involving a female bartender who claims she was asked to wear short skirts, revealing tops and high-heeled shoes to work has sparked another debate about whether it's appropriate to ask someone to wear sexy clothing in the workplace.
The line is drawn where the employee begins to feel uncomfortable, said MacGregor, who also noted that it is discriminatory to ask a woman to wear makeup when there is no such requirement for men.
"Someone can look just as attractive and just as cute with no makeup on and a skirt that comes to their knees or a pair of trousers."
Karolina Bil has launched a complaint with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal against a popular sports bar, saying she was required to dress in a fashion that elicited sexual harassment from customers.
Bil was hired as a bartender in December by the Shark Club at the Sandman Hotel in Richmond, where she claims she was discriminated against because she was unfairly told to wear miniskirts, high heels and tight tops that revealed cleavage.
She also alleges she was asked to ensure her hair and makeup were done with "class and sex appeal." She claims that one time when she wore her hair up, her manager asked her take it down.
Bil told the tribunal that she was too afraid to discuss the uniform issue with the trainers, who were all attractive with bleached blond hair.
The Shark Club denies it discriminated and says that it has in place policies and procedures that are explained in its training manual. The restaurant has filed an application asking the tribunal to dismiss Bil's complaint.
The restaurant chain also says Bil never raised any issues with it or told anyone that she was experiencing discrimination or harassment at work.
Jim Weidinger, director of operations for the Shark Club, said staff members are not forced to wear anything they are uncomfortable in. He admits there is a dress code that includes a "form-fitting top and a form-fitting skirt," but says it is within wardrobe standards in the industry.
He called the restaurant's uniform "intelligent sex appeal" which he described as attire considered sexy within the social norms but not "going over the top."
"The clothes are all available at any local fashion or athletic shop," he said. "Our spec also includes form-fitting dress shirts and pants for males."
The restaurant has an employee hotline to the president of the company for any complaints or concerns, he added.
Tribunal member Heather MacNaughton found that if Bil's allegations of sexually based dress-code requirements are proven, it could amount to sex discrimination.
She dismissed the Shark Club's challenge. No date has been set to hear Bil's complaint.
It is not the first case in B.C. of a woman complaining of being discriminated against because of sexy clothing at a restaurant.
In 2004, a waitress who refused to wear a bikini top during a 2002 Hawaiian-themed fundraiser at a New Westminster bar was awarded $6,000 after she launched a complaint with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.
In Montreal, a tribunal awarded a waitress $3,588 in 1997 for lost wages, tips and moral damages after she was fired when she wouldn't wear a miniskirt, tight top and heels.
| Sounds to me like a case of a disgruntled employee trying to get back at her managers... I think restaurants should be able to set a dress code as long as the employee understands that dress code when they are hired.
Even if the restaurants couldn't enforce a dress code, the smart waitresses would still dress "with sex appeal" so they could get the biggest tips. I sure as shit enjoy eating at restaurant with hot waitresses more than a restaurant with ditch pigs :p . |
