The crew setting up the shoot. The woman in the white shirt is Leslie Blodgett, owner of Bare Minerals.
Posted on 12/29/2004 8:39:47 AM PST by freespirited
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A female bartender who refused to wear makeup at a Reno, Nevada, casino was not unfairly dismissed from her job, a U.S. federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.
Darlene Jespersen, who had worked for nearly 20 years at a Harrah's Entertainment Inc casino bar in Reno, Nevada, objected to the company's revised policy that required female bartenders, but not men, to wear makeup.
A previously much-praised employee, Jespersen was fired in 2000 after the firm instituted a "Beverage Department Image Transformation" program and she sued, alleging sex discrimination.
In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling in favor of Harrah's. All three judges are males appointed by Democratic presidents.
"We have previously held that grooming and appearance standards that apply differently to women and men do not constitute discrimination on the basis of sex," Judge Wallace Tashima wrote for the majority.
He cited the precedent of a 1974 case in which the court ruled that a company can require men to have short hair but allow long hair on women.
The Lambda Legal Defense Fund, a gay rights group that backed Jespersen's suit, had argued that forcing female employees to have different standards than men was unlawful under rules, known as Title VII, against discrimination on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
The ruling found, however, that the casino's appearance standards were no more burdensome for women than for men.
In a dissenting opinion, Judge Sidney Thomas backed the reasoning of the plaintiff. "Harrah's fired Jespersen because of her failure to confirm to sex stereotypes, which is discrimination based on sex and is therefore impermissible under Title VII," he wrote.
"The distinction created by the majority opinion leaves men and women in services industries, who are more likely to be subject to policies like the Harrah's 'Personal Best' policy, without the protection that white-collar professionals receive," he wrote.
On the surface, to some, this make look like a case of discrimination but in reality it isn't. I think the court was correct in it's decision based on the fact that men and women are indeed different and holding them to different apearence standards is well within the rights of a company. For instance, the long hair and short hair ruling. Companies can and should be able to set standards of dress and apearence for their employees,it is their company and if you don't like their rules quit your job.
I was thinking Aqua Velva®, or maybe Lectric Shave®.
Or Hi Karate, if they still make it.
The term "coyote ugly" was coined to describe mornings just like that. We've all got a few in our closet; hell, for others, we are the ones in the closet.
And certainly, no pun intended.
"Who IS that on the cover of your book?" LOL!
you are easy to please, my friend.
by golly, there is 75 posts on the tsunami. Have at 'em. Cheers.
The crew setting up the shoot. The woman in the white shirt is Leslie Blodgett, owner of Bare Minerals.
Maybe you just shouldn't start your own business!
Do you really want the government telling you how to run it?
OMG, I thought you were kidding! You really were a before and after model. That is fabulous.
I may be a model for the company, but I don't get any discounts!!!!
I do swear by the makeup though, I don't use anything else.
I think a little gender verification is in order. Go ahead, you do it. I'll witness from a safe distance.
Department of Redundancy Department
................and we all like a cocktail waitress with tips.....................sorry!
Bartenders have tip jars too....so you were correct in assuming she'd get more tips no matter what side of the bar she was on.
Stupid men....the better a woman looks the more money they give? What losers they are. :p
Because the company changed the rules. They are allowed to do that.
Makeup would make no difference, honestly. They must have wanted to get rid of her because she's just butchy in general.
Maybe if KISS's makeup person did a job on her it would be sufficient.
As it stands now, she could play "Geddy Lee" in any Rush tribute band.
LOL yep men giving pretty wimmin stuff has been going on since the biblical times.
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