Women's group says Hooters should not serve minors
samsung1
Ohio
SAN FRANCISCO -- The National Organization for Women is asking authorities to bar Hooters restaurants in San Francisco, San Bruno, Sacramento and Orange County from serving children.
The group's California chapter on Thursday filed complaints against the restaurants with prosecutors and police.
Hooters is known for its scantily clad waitresses. But NOW says the restaurants it identified are classified as adult entertainment establishments and are violating state and local laws by serving minors.
Patricia Bellasalma, NOW's California president, told the San Francisco Chronicle that in recent years, Hooters has promoted itself as family friendly. It offers children's menus and T-shirts in children's sizes that say "Future Hooters Girl."
Hooters said in a statement Friday that the charges were "ridiculous" and that the restaurant chain was not in violation of any laws.
"The Hooters brand of sex appeal is wholesome and that of the all-American cheerleader, not a seedy strip club," said Mike McNeil, vice president of marketing for the Atlanta-based chain. "... Hooters is no more in violation of California's adult entertainment codes than the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition is."
Attorney Mona Lisa Wallace, president of NOW's San Francisco chapter, filed a complaint against the chain with San Francisco police.
She told KTVU-TV that Hooters has called itself an adult establishment to defend itself against lawsuits accusing the chain of discrimination because it doesn't hire men to serve food.
"Hooters, Inc. claims that they are not a restaurant but that they are rather vicarious sexual entertainment," Wallace said. "So their workers are not food servers or waitresses. Their workers are sexual entertainers."
Adult venues cannot serve to minors under San Francisco law, but restaurants cannot discriminate by gender when they hire workers, she said.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2010/12/1…
The group's California chapter on Thursday filed complaints against the restaurants with prosecutors and police.
Hooters is known for its scantily clad waitresses. But NOW says the restaurants it identified are classified as adult entertainment establishments and are violating state and local laws by serving minors.
Patricia Bellasalma, NOW's California president, told the San Francisco Chronicle that in recent years, Hooters has promoted itself as family friendly. It offers children's menus and T-shirts in children's sizes that say "Future Hooters Girl."
Hooters said in a statement Friday that the charges were "ridiculous" and that the restaurant chain was not in violation of any laws.
"The Hooters brand of sex appeal is wholesome and that of the all-American cheerleader, not a seedy strip club," said Mike McNeil, vice president of marketing for the Atlanta-based chain. "... Hooters is no more in violation of California's adult entertainment codes than the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition is."
Attorney Mona Lisa Wallace, president of NOW's San Francisco chapter, filed a complaint against the chain with San Francisco police.
She told KTVU-TV that Hooters has called itself an adult establishment to defend itself against lawsuits accusing the chain of discrimination because it doesn't hire men to serve food.
"Hooters, Inc. claims that they are not a restaurant but that they are rather vicarious sexual entertainment," Wallace said. "So their workers are not food servers or waitresses. Their workers are sexual entertainers."
Adult venues cannot serve to minors under San Francisco law, but restaurants cannot discriminate by gender when they hire workers, she said.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2010/12/1…
17 comments
Oh God, no! I can see it now seiu dancers.
2) Hooters is a sexualized environment, however, you can see more skin on over the air TV, or at the beach. N.O.W. doesn't have a legal leg to stand on.
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In related news, Jeff Foxworthy's friend, Bill "Here's your sign" Engvall, tells a story about accidentally entering a steakhouse in Missouri that had topless waitresses. Bill's twelve year old son was with him and got an eyeful. I was kind of surprised that the boy was allowed entry. That story always intrigued me.
Actually, in a class-action lawsuit in 1997, Hooters agreed to pay $3.75 Million to settle a sexual discrimination lawsuit filed by a group of men. The settlement enabled the restaurant chain to continue to have only Hooters Girls serve food & beverages, while Hooters also agreed to create gender-neutral jobs such as bartender, host & kitchen staff. I don't think that the Supreme Court has ever ruled on anything related to Hooters.
There was even a Hooters suit set to go to trial in TX this year:
http://www.caller.com/news/2009/feb/24/m…
It was settled though:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,5173…
I always thought that it was funny whenever I saw a kid's birthday party at Hooters. The boys didn't seem to know what to do when a Hooters girl would put them up on a stool and say, "This is [so-and-so]...he's my boyfriend, and it's his birthday today!"
I confess: I go there lots of times. My wallet's pretty lean these days, so seeing girls with tight shirts and showing as much cleavage as they can gets a horny guy like me through the day. (And when I was flush with cash, I usually start off my stripclubbin' night with dinner at Hooters. It's kind of a starter course for the main later, you know what I mean?) Anyway, I often see families go there. Families, including kids. Including daughters. Again, I don't mean to be a prude, but if I had a daughter, I'd think twice before exposing her to the objectified adult version of what she'll become, especially at that young of an age.
Would I go so far as to ban Hooters from serving minors? No, probably not. But I also think of it this way: If there are no underage kids, that means the environment there is safer for adults to do adult stuff. Spandexman could be right: Maybe then we can get our lap dances during our meal!
And for those of you say T&A's better elsewhere: Where? We're talking about restaurants here, so I'm not looking for a club. Where?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/94393434@N0…