Tuesday, September 20, 2005

The Hooters Employee Handbook

I read a short while back (here) that Hooters was coming to New Zealand. This will actually clean up the industry just a tad as, believe it or not, Hooters are a "responsible employer". Think about it. They thrive in the good 'ole "US of A" where people sue each other for even thinking about members of the opposite sex, yet this outfit actually dress pretty young girls in dinky outfits and allow us sad men to oggle and dribble and dream the impossible. How is this possible?

Drum roll please.....

The Hooters Employee Handbook

Well blow me! (ahem, figuratively please)
This book actually goes into great detail about the ins and outs of a Hooters Girl, right down to the shade of pantyhose (a word I still can't get used to, they are called tights, damnit) and the fact that the "shorts are to be sized to fit" (nice) but not "so tight that the buttocks show" (boo).

How do they get around the hoards of lawyers surrounding those poor girls who are being taken advantage of (or not)? Simple. You sign a cast iron acknowledgement that includes the confirmation that "the Hooters concept is based on female sex appeal and the work environment is one in which joking and innuendo based on female sex appeal is commonplace". Nice words, wonder if they can be slipped into any other contracts....

The agreement even goes as far as to comment upon a famous US case where several men sued as they were specifically excluded from being Hooters girls. The defense argued that sex appeal was a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) - basically put Sex Sells and it is pretty girls that are sexy, not hairy backed blokes.

Sadly in the case of Hooters, they lost the case when the seven men argued that as Hooters market themselves as a family restaurant rather than an entertainment venue for the sex business, their BFOQ defense did not hold up as the venue was not specifically for providing “vicarious sexual recreation” using female sexuality. I can see the conversation with Mrs R now "C'mon kids, we're off to a family restaurant for tea; you stay at home love, I'll take the little 'uns with me. You need a break. Put you feet up. We'll be back when my balls start to hurt, I mean when we've all had desert...."

Hooters ended up paying $2 million to these guys who were denied the opportunity to serve as Hooter girls and $1.75 million in attorney’s fees. They also agreed to create three gender neutral positions which will be highly sough after in Wellington. Dusting off my CV now. I would have hired the guys and made them wear the same outfits and used them in every advertising promo until they got tired of the "where do you tuck your tackle in those little shorts, handsome" jokes.....

Check out the full handbook
here, courtesy of The Smoking Gun. Whilst you're there, subscribe to their weekly newsletter as they get the best gossip and stories.

9 comments:

  1. I feel your excitement Mr R. Really you'll look just fabulous in a pair of Daisy Dukes...

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  2. Why thank you; spank my butt and call me Suzie.

    For some reason, this post is generating lots of Spam comments so I may have to turn on that anti-spam thingy. First one was within seconds of posting follwed by one more whilst I was deleting the first. How do you deal with them?

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  3. Great Blog. Greetings from Scotland. The name "Mr. Reasonable" makes me laugh, it was a parting shot to my husband during an argument and he's never gotten over it.

    Kats

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  4. Hi Kats,
    Thank you oh visitor from afar. The origins of Mr Reasonable are similar here too!

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  5. Hello, ex psychopath - well you do say at the top of your blog not a lot makes you angry. I rest my case!

    To get rid of your spam - go into your blogger dashboard and turn on "word verification".

    Thanks for reading my blog - I shall follow yours with interest.

    Kats

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  6. Hey Kats, Thanks for the spam thingy. The voices say thank you too, but they told me not to tell you; I don't always listen to them.....

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  7. Is that like irony?

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  8. im a hooters girl and i knew wat i was getting into before i even filled out the app. if someone doesnt like the rules dont work there. really guys go to hooters for the girls they can get wings and beer somewhere else but hooters is popular for the girls thats wat sets them apart from any other place.

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