Los Angeles Sexual Assault Lawyer Blog

Bars and restaurants have a long history of sexually-themed gimmicks to try to get customers in the door.

But these establishments cross legal boundaries when they impose sanctions or criteria on one sex over the other.

That's what happened to one Los Angeles woman who is suing her former employer for imposing a dress code on female employees that included short schoolgirl skirts.

Our Los Angeles Sexual Assault Lawyers know that the courts have typically upheld the rights of a business to enact a dress code in general. However, it does not give them the right to impose dress codes that some employees - particularly females - consider demeaning.

With specific regard to the issue of gender discrimination, back in 1989, the U.S Supreme Court decided a case called Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins . In that decision, the court held that under Title VII, employers could not penalize employees for failing to conform to certain gender stereotypes.

The case is further bolstered if it applies solely to one sex.

This recent lawsuit is more of an issue of retaliation. The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission bars employers from retaliation against employees who file a complaint for discrimination. Retaliation is defined as when an employer fires, demotes or harasses someone for engaging in this protected form of speech.

In this case, the former waitress is claiming wrongful termination, sexual harassment and unpaid wages.

According to her lawsuit, the 23-year-old said she had been employed at a Los Angeles bar/restaurant since 2007. When she started, the dress code allowed her to wear pants and a blouse to work.

However, back in October, one of the restaurant's co-owners cooked up a plan to boost sales: skin-tight, short school girl skirts, which were held together by a thin strip of Velcro. Making it worse, the plaintiff maintains, was the fact that restaurant owners strategically placed fans on the floor throughout the establishment, so that the waitresses' skirts would blow up, exposing their bottoms.

At first, the waitress thought it was a joke. But when she realized the owners were serious, she tried for a short time to wear the uniform. However, she found it completely demeaning.

Adding to the atmosphere of objectification, she says, was a bar policy that included rating female patrons on a scale of 1 to 10. Those who ranked six or higher were awarded a free shot of liquor.

The waitress says she wasn't the only one to be appalled at the policy and the new dress code, but she was the only one to file a formal complaint with management about it. In response, the dress code was dropped.

The issue may have ended there, but subsequently, the waitress says her hours were cut significantly and a few days later, she was terminated.

The restaurant's management has said that she was not fired - she quit - and that her claims are without merit.

Presumably, though, there are other employees who can testify to the dress code details and other facts.