With its reputation built on waitresses and wings, the long-standing Hooters restaurant chain is now facing a wave of online criticism due to its hair color policy.
Hooters Raises Eyebrows
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
When it comes to employment expectations, most restaurants may let servers go for issues like being late or overall poor performance. However, Hooters takes a different approach.
Behind the Relaxed Vibe
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
Despite its relaxed atmosphere, the popular sports bar and grill has a detailed employee handbook that outlines a set of stringent rules for its waitresses. These rules primarily focus on the uniforms and appearance of the staff, forming an essential part of Hooters' distinctive atmosphere and visual branding.
Dress Code Drama
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
While it's not unusual for companies to enforce a dress code, Hooters may have pushed the boundaries a bit too much with its own dress code, as indicated by the intense backlash it's receiving on social media.
Hair Color Rebellion
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
In addition to not allowing "outrageous" accessories, piercings, and brightly colored bras, Hooters' dress code policy extends to forbidding employees from sporting unnatural hair colors.
In a short TikTok clip that has now gone viral, Chelsea Ponsell (@chelseaponsell) has risked being fired by adamantly refusing to dye her hair.
Determined to Keep Her Job at Hooters
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
Despite her opposition to the strict hair policy at her job, Chelsea is determined to find a workaround to retain her position at Hooters., going to the extent of using eyeshadow in a color that matches the rest of her hair to cover her blond money pieces.
Hooters Hair Policy Hack
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
With a caption that read, “Me putting [eyeshadow] on my money pieces because I’m fired from Hooters if I don’t,” Chelsea filmed herself applying brown eyeshadow to her blonde money pieces in the video.
Maintaining Hair Color at Hooters
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
Since Chelsea only works at Hooters a few days a week, she doesn't see it as worthwhile to change her hair for the sake of the strict policy, especially considering that she was hired with her current hair color two years ago.
Nothing Changed
Illustration. Image credit: Depositphotos
As she added in the caption, “I refuse to dye my hair for a job I work 3 days a week for — not to mention I was hired two years ago with the same hair I have now.”
Viewers Share Hair Cover-up Techniques
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
The short TikTok clip quickly went viral on the platform and generated various reactions from viewers. Some expressed surprise, with comments like, "What... how is Hooters strict?"
Other viewers offered helpful suggestions to Chelsea regarding how she could effectively cover up her money pieces. They even recommended certain brands of cosmetic hair products that could provide a temporary solution to meet the requirements of Hooters' hair policy. “Get dark dry shampoo,” one user suggested.
Ex-Hooters Girl Shares How To Break the Rules
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
An ex-Hooters employee shared her personal experience in the comment section, indicating that it can be challenging for Hooters employees to find ways around the strict policies.
“Girl the way I used to slap on entire wigs and use hair chalk bc I refused to dye my hair for Hooters and twin,” she shared, “there's ways to get around it.”
The Legal Angle
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
One viewer suggested that Hooters' actions towards Chelsea could potentially be illegal, and she may have grounds to take legal action against the company.
The commenter stated, “If they HIRED you with it and did NOT tell you to change it, you’re LEGALLY not required to change it lovely. Sue them Tehe.”
Behind the Scenes
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
Alongside Chelsea's case, Jardin Taylor, another Hooters employee, took to TikTok to shed light on some of these regulations and how they led to the dismissal of several of her coworkers.
"One of the main rules of Hooters is that, whatever you look like when you are hired, you have to maintain that standard," Taylor shared in the video.
Hooters Employee's Dismissal Over Dyeing Incident
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
Taylor elaborated on this issue in her TikTok video, sharing that one of her coworkers lost her job because she had dyed her hair from black to red and refused her manager's request to change it back.
Lawsuit Exposes Hooters' Hair Color Policy
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
Hooters' hair color policy has received significant backlash, with numerous individuals challenging its validity in the past. In 2013, Farryn Johnson filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging racial discrimination due to the hair color policy.
In a rare outcome against Hooters' policies, Farryn Johnson achieved victory in her legal battle against the company.
Hooters' Discriminatory Practices
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
In an interview with a local news outlet, Johnson revealed that Hooters had explicitly instructed her to remove the blonde highlights from her hair, citing the reasoning that black women do not naturally have blonde hair.
“They specifically said black women don’t have blonde in their hair so you need to take it out,” she said.
Hooters' Notions of "Natural" Hair
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
According to Johnson's lawsuit against Hooters, when she was 25 years old, she was told that since blonde highlights do not appear "natural" on Black women, she was not allowed to have them as a Hooters employee. Shortly after, she received her first warning from the company regarding her hair color.
"Improper Image" Claim
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
After a few weeks, Farryn was prohibited from working at Hooters and was eventually terminated from her position. In response, she decided to file a lawsuit against the company.
In her complaint, as reported by the Baltimore Sun, Farryn Johnson stated that Hooters terminated her employment on the grounds of an "improper image".
Unequal Treatment
Illustration. Image credit: Depositphotos
Farryn's lawsuit against Hooters included compelling evidence indicating that her non-Black colleagues seemed to have been granted exceptions to Hooters' hair color policy, whereas she, in contrast, faced termination.
Legal Victory
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
Farryn's determination to prove her case paid off in the end. The judge ruled in her favor and ordered Hooters to compensate her with a substantial amount of $250,000.
This outcome could serve as a compelling reference point for other Hooters girls who wish to assert their rights and challenge the restaurant’s policies they perceive as unfair.
More From Womenio
Image credit: Dzmitry Held via Canva.com
What you rarely see in fashion magazines is what women wear that men love. Here are 21 Things Women Wear That Men LOVE
20 Weird Things People Find Extremely Attractive That Most DON'T
Illustration. Image credit: katyasmailey via Canva.com.
Everyone's got their own idea of what they find attractive, and sometimes it's something a little unconventional. Here are 20 Weird Things People Find Extremely Attractive That Most DON'T
30 Things Men Should Wear to Drive Women WILD - (According to Women)
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
Here is what you should wear to drive them crazy: 30 Things Men Should Wear to Drive Women WILD - (According to Women)
25 Popular Things Women Wear That Men Secretly Hate
Image credit: Depositphotos
From your favorite accessories right down to the choices of footwear, here is a list of fashion items men wish women stopped wearing: 25 Popular Things Women Wear That Men Secretly Hate
33 Dirty Company Secrets Revealed By Employees That We Are Not Supposed To Know
Illustration. Image credit: Shutterstock
Learn what various industries tried to hide from outsiders straight from the employees: 33 Dirty Company Secrets Revealed By Employees That We Are Not Supposed To Know
Source: TikTok
source https://www.womenio.com/47149/hooters-faces-backlash-over-dress-code-policy-as-employee-uses-eye-shadow-to-cover-her-hair-color-im-fired-from-hooters-if-i-dont
No comments:
Post a Comment