Beaten Hooters Waitress Wins Unemployment Benefits
The Hooters employment manual doesn’t expressly state that waitresses at the restaurant can’t work with bruises and a black eye. But it does say that the women hired to work in revealing uniforms as so-called Hooters girls at the national chain must have a glamorous appearance and strive for the “all-American cheerleader look,” a supervisor testified at a recent hearing in Iowa.
Hence, 27-year-old Sara Dye is entitled to unemployment benefits, an administrative law judge ruled, after the restaurant refused to let her work, with visible injuries, after a domestic incident in which she was beaten and had some of her hair shorn off, reports the Des Moines Register.
After staying away from work while her injuries healed, as instructed by supervisory staff, Dye was then told she was fired when she next called in to work, the newspaper recounts. After Dye sought unemployment benefits, Judge Teresa Hillary was asked to decide whether Dye’s situation amounted to intentional misconduct.
Darren Taylor, who owns the Davenport restaurant at which Dye worked, denied that she was fired.
