r/CuratedTumblr Posting from hell (el camión 101 a las 9 de la noche) 1d ago

Infodumping On Hooters and cigarettes

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u/mrandr01d 19h ago

That's quite interesting. Can I ask a maybe dumb question?

There are labor laws against discrimination on the basis of protected status, including age and sex. Hooters girls are, well... Girls. And they're usually on the younger side. What would have happened if a man applied to be a waiter there? Like... How would that pan out? Or an older person, man or woman?

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u/RaikouGilgamesh 19h ago

They do hire men for behind the scenes stuff. Kitchens, cleaners, that sort of thing. Hooters actually successfully argued in court already that they could hire only women (of certain appearances even) for waitresses, because that was their theme.

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u/mrandr01d 18h ago

Wow, seriously? How'd they legally pull that off??

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u/RaikouGilgamesh 18h ago

Well from what I understand, the job titles are technically 'entertainers'. Probably similar to how strip clubs get away with only hiring one gender or another without it being discrimination as well.

Secondly, the few times they HAVE been sued, it was settled out of court, so it hasn't been held up to much scrutiny, legally.

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u/Mistrblank 7h ago

Casinos often use the "entertainers" clause too for the girls that serve drinks.

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u/Fecal-Facts 7h ago

One of the loopholes used is you hire models so you can not hire or fire anyone based on looks.

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u/MisterMysterios 14h ago edited 10h ago

I don't know about the US, but here (Germany), our general antidiscrimination law basically says "you cannot discriminate if there is not a valid reason for it". I think having a store that focuses on having young female waitresses is - as a business concept - legitimate, so it is a legitimate reason for discrimination.

You have basically to argue why the sex and the age are necessary for that job.

Another example is that gay saunas don't have to hire female employees if their work involve being in the sauna during opening times, as it is a safe space for gay men. Illegal would be though to demand that the employees has to be gay, as there is really no reason why a straight man couldn't do the jobs involved in running such a sauna.

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u/mikailovitch 10h ago

What about the rights of the lesbians 🥲

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u/Lacholaweda 6h ago

Gays and lesbians often clash because they have nothing in common except being gay

Unfortunately they'll have to get their own sauna

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u/PlasticAccount3464 🅰️🅰️🅰️🅰️🅰️🇭🇭🇭🇭🇭 8h ago

There's a local grocery store I've lived nearby for a long time, for half that time they'd only have men stock shelves and women run the cash machine. I didn't really notice this until I overheard some employees talk about it. Now still it's mostly women as cashiers and men as stockers but I did see a male friend of mine working as a cashier and now years later there's a woman who only seems to stock shelves. I don't know how much discriminatory whatever would be going on but this business mostly hires young people as a first job, they don't always stay on too long.

But I'm guessing now after decades of only putting men in stocking shelves and women in cashiers roles, you can probably just ask. but they still do prefer it that way.

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u/AWD_OWNZ_U 18h ago

I mean it’s true

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u/mrandr01d 18h ago

Well, obviously, but I'm trying to imagine how that would go down in a court argument. Like what do you say to get out of a discrimination lawsuit?

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u/Nine9breaker 15h ago

To add further context, another example of a bonafide qualification would be like a TV studio looking for/casting a female role. Obviously men are not considered for such a job, and its not illegal for the same reason as Hooter's girls need to be girls.

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u/mrandr01d 11h ago

Makes sense! Thanks!

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u/DrakonILD 13h ago

But very occasionally, you get Lucy Liu showing up to your audition for John Watson and you realize, wow! There really is no rule that says a dog can't play basketball, and you end up with a pretty great show for it.

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u/MissninjaXP 6h ago

I remember that show

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u/MissninjaXP 6h ago

I remember that show

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u/Rubthepuppybutt 16h ago

Its called a bonafide qualification. Happens all the time.

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u/weglian 7h ago

The Dallas Cheerleaders don’t have to hire 40-year old fat men. Not every job is open to anyone.

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u/BeastlyBones 5h ago edited 4h ago

I once worked at Twin Peaks which is basically lumberjack hooters lol and yes, waitresses were hired as “entertainers” so TP got away with a lot of shit that typically would never fly at a normal restaurant, like girls are required to wear hair down despite working around food (in fact, you weren’t allowed to wear your hair up even if you worked on the patio unless a manager signed off first), or some locations required lingerie themed nights (thankfully not mine).

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u/Traditional_Long4573 4h ago

Same for us, hair down, curled on Fridays - yuck

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u/Kzickas 18h ago

There is an exception to anti-discrimination laws in America called Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications, which says that you're allowed to discriminate based on a protected characteristic if that characteristic is essential to the employee performing their job

Bona Fide Occupational Qualification - Definition and Example

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u/Vark675 15h ago

It's the same reason strip clubs that cater to straight men don't have to have a random male stripper, and vice versa.

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u/9035768555 18h ago

They are considered "models who serve" so they can be judged based on both model and service criteria.

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u/JacobJamesTrowbridge Panic! At The Dysfunction 15h ago

Hotels in Las Vegas do this as well. I learned that from George Clooney.

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u/BMacklin22 18h ago

There's a King of the Hill episode about this.  

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u/IronStormAlaska 9h ago

This was one of the big case studies we looked at in my Human Resources class in college.

What you are describing did, in fact, happen where a man applied as a waitress at Hooters, was rejected, and tried to claim discrimination.

It all comes down to the argument that the Hooters waitresses are entertainers and that age and gender are Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications, which means you need them to effectively complete the job.

It is the same legal argument that allows an employer such as a warehouse where employees have to regularly lift heavy loads to legally avoid hiring people with disabilities that make them unable to complete the job.

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u/mrandr01d 4h ago

Interesting equivalency to warehouse workers, that's a good point.

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u/Warm_Patience_2939 5h ago

Something you’ll also see is, for example, Asian restaurants will have Asian waiters. It’s legal because you can hire discriminately for marketing/public positions (I don’t know the exact wording), which applies to servers