[BerkshireGrl]

OUTRAGEOUS!!! Grrrrr!

Courtesy the New York Post:

WEIGHTRESS OUTRAGE AT PUB SEX-HARASS LAWSUIT
New York Post - New York, N.Y.
Author: DAN MANGAN
Date: Sep 12, 2006

Two ex-waitresses at a trendy East Side bar are serving up a heavy-duty, $15 million sex-harassment lawsuit, accusing their former bosses of ordering female employees to be weighed as part of a bizarre scheme to keep tabs on their poundage.

"They told me I needed to get on the scale," said one of the women, Kristen McRedmond, about her humiliating experience in a manager's office at Sutton Place Bar and Restaurant in July.

"I told them I'm not going to be part of your sick game," recalled McRedmond, 27, who said she physically resisted when a beefy manager tried to pick her up to get her on the scale while another manager looked on.

"I just felt so violated."

McRedmond and fellow former Sutton Place waitress Alexandria Lipton, 25, both said the scale episode came a few weeks after a top manager at the Second Avenue watering hole had walked around with pen and pad in hand demanding to know how much all the waitresses weighed so he could record the results.

"The manager, Neil, came over to me and asked me how much I weigh. I said, 'I don't know.' He looks me up and down, and he goes, '135' . . . Then he writes down my weight," Lipton said.

Both women said only female workers were singled out for the weigh-ins and questions about their weight, and that it was done without explanation. And they claim the managers would criticize waitresses - but not waiters - for ordering fatty fried food for their own dinners.

They also claim that waitresses' individual weights were tracked on a computer spreadsheet - and the results placed on a Web site that tracked the weights of waitresses in other establishments in the city. "I've been doing sexual-harassment law for 20 years, and this has to be the most egregious case of degradation to women that I have ever seen," said the women's lawyer, Rosemarie Arnold. "It's unbelievable." Arnold and her co-counsel, Joseph Tacopina, today are filing suit on behalf of the women in Manhattan Supreme Court against Sutton Place and its owner, Richard Kassis, as well as managers including Neil, who is listed as "Neil Doe" because his last name is unknown.

The suit accuses the defendants of sexual harassment and illegally firing McRedmond and Lipton after they were overheard complaining about the weigh-ins, which, it says, had severely upset most other female workers.

Sutton Place's lawyer, Joel Simon, denied the allegations, calling them a "nice piece of fiction," but declined to address them point by point, and also declined to say why the women were fired. "I believe that once the facts are known, it will be seen that the individuals were fired due to their own fault, and not to do with anything related to these allegations," Simon said.

They also claim that waitresses' individual weights were tracked on a computer spreadsheet - and the results placed on a Web site that tracked the weights of waitresses in other establishments in the city. "I've been doing sexual-harassment law for 20 years, and this has to be the most egregious case of degradation to women that I have ever seen," said the women's lawyer, Rosemarie Arnold. "It's unbelievable." Arnold and her co-counsel, Joseph Tacopina, today are filing suit on behalf of the women in Manhattan Supreme Court against Sutton Place and its owner, Richard Kassis, as well as managers including [Neil], who is listed as "Neil Doe" because his last name is unknown.

Source: New York Post

[britomart]

that is absolutely unbelieveable!! especially the part about the manager trying to pick up the girl and put her on the scale. That is disgusting.

[Misti in Seattle]

Yah but it would be worth it to win $15 million dollars and never have to go to work again.

[veggielover]

actually, in certain places in manhatten, they actually hire based on figure. You'd need to be a stick figure sometimes to get hired in trendy places to attract a certain clientele.

[jillybean720]

Originally Posted by veggielover

actually, in certain places in manhatten, they actually hire based on figure. You'd need to be a stick figure sometimes to get hired in trendy places to attract a certain clientele.

As annoying as it is, I can almost understand this. Just like actressing, modeling, dancing, etc...sometimes appearance DOES matter for the job. However, as we all know, what the scale says doesn't mean anything. 2 of the waitresses could have both worn a size 2 and looked just fine, but one might weigh 105 while the other weighs 140

[maegdaeien]

The clothing store American Outfitters requires a photo to be submitted along with an application, and I remember reading an article about how a woman who worked at an airline got into some kind of trouble for not wearing makeup or doing her hair. It's amazing and infuriating that men think they can dictate what women wear, weigh, etc.

[almostheaven]

Originally Posted by jillybean720

As annoying as it is, I can almost understand this. Just like actressing, modeling, dancing, etc...sometimes appearance DOES matter for the job. However, as we all know, what the scale says doesn't mean anything. 2 of the waitresses could have both worn a size 2 and looked just fine, but one might weigh 105 while the other weighs 140

I understand that perfectly. I used to love this one Mexican restaurant. They did NOT hire Americans. Because? It wasn't an American restaurant. It was authentic Mexican, owned/run/operated by Mexicans. Made it hard to order with some of the staff. My parents even called me on their cell from their table one day because they couldn't get the waiter to understand their "special" order. So I had them hand him the phone and I asked for the owner Miquel, who took their order.

I think it's more how this business handled it. There are ways you could keep waitresses at a specific "figure" without making them weigh in. They could always fire a waitress if she wasn't meeting customer demands. IE: Their customers preferred other waitresses and she wasn't encouraging the business in the manner the others were. Could probably still bring a suit in today's suit happy era. But businesses should be able to hire based on what works in their business. If it's race (IE: Authentic Mexican), why should someone be able to sue them because they're not what's needed for the appropriate atmosphere?

[lilybelle]

If I ever had an employer try to pick me up and put me on a scale, I'd have made a beeline to an attorney's office and the local news station. I hope they get every penny they can get.

[hoodj0080]

If a manager tried to put me on a scale, he'd try it once. It's hard to pick up somebody with two broken arms and a kick in family jewels...

[VelVeeta]

Originally Posted by hoodj0080

If a manager tried to put me on a scale, he'd try it once. It's hard to pick up somebody with two broken arms and a kick in family jewels...

haha, agreed. I cannot believe that. No one is going to pick me up and force me on a scale, make no mistake!

[phantastica]

Originally Posted by hoodj0080

If a manager tried to put me on a scale, he'd try it once. It's hard to pick up somebody

... who weighs as much as the average linebacker!

Oh, I wouldn't have been hired for that job.

Of all places, NYC! I liked to think that the bigger the city the more civilized the people, the less riff-raff that happens. I guess not.

I'm going to follow this one.

[jillybean720]

Originally Posted by phantastica

Of all places, NYC! I liked to think that the bigger the city the more civilized the people, the less riff-raff that happens. I guess not.

haha, no...the bigger the city, the more places for the crazies to hide or stay well below the radar amongst the crowds In fact, I'm a bit torn inside as to whether I want to raise my children near a big city or out in the 'burbs. I've experienced both firsthand, and believe me, there are psychos in both settings!

[willmakeit]

Discrimination is everywhere! There are published studies showing that good-looking and skinny figured women get more success career/job wise than an equally qualified counterpart.

Good looking people break traffic rules more often but get tickets less often.

Job interviews are most influenced by looks followed by intelligence and personality and verbal skills.

[NemesisClaws]

Interesting.....they want skinner women as waitresses, but don't care about the men's weight? We oughta raise up a fight against chubby fellas then and see how they like it!

[almostheaven]

Originally Posted by phantastica

Of all places, NYC! I liked to think that the bigger the city the more civilized the people, the less riff-raff that happens. I guess not.

I think using NYC and civilized in the same sentence is an oxymoron.