Trans woman sues Hooters for discrimination claiming she was denied her a job and harassed

A transgender woman, Brandy Livingston, is suing a Hooters in New York, claiming her job application was turned down because of her “image”, and that members of staff harassed her. 

Hooters is a branch of restaurants that primarily recruits young women as servers and has them dress in revealing outfits while attending tables. The company’s name is a slang term for women’s breasts.

In 2006, a copy of the Hooters employee handbook was leaked, with employees required to sign that they “acknowledge and affirm” the following:

“1. The Hooters concept is based on female sex appeal and the work environment is one in which joking and entertaining conversations are commonplace. 2. My job duties require I wear the designated Hooters Girl uniform. 3. My job duties require that I interact with and entertain the customers.”

Brandy Livingston filed her claim with the New York State Division of Human Rights, which found there was evidence that there might have been a violation of the state’s anti-discrimination laws. 

Having been a regular at the fast-food restaurant, she wanted to work there after her transition, but has alleged that after coming out as a trans woman, she was subjected to misgendering and harassment. 

She told News10 of one example where she “overheard one of the servers after I left the restroom talking to one of the managers [who] said: ‘Why are you allowing him in the women’s restroom?’ And the manager said, ‘Oh, I don’t like it any more than you do’.”

‘There’s an image that needs to be met’

Livingston claimed she was rejected outright from the role, with the manager referring to the chain’s “image”, Advocate reported.

The manager wouldn’t even look at her previous work experience, she went on to claim. “He said: ‘Oh, we don’t care about experience, we hire on the basis of personality and there’s an image that needs to be met’.”

A lawyer for Hooters said Livingston had been asked not to return to the location because of her own behaviour, some of which allegedly included talking about masturbation, which made members of staff uncomfortable. Livingston has denied the accusation.

Hooters also claimed that she had talked about going to a gun range “for practice” before her next visit. She responded by saying that her words had been taken out of context.

“My mom would take me to the gun range and for clay pigeon shooting,” she said. “I feel one of the servers might have overheard what me and my dad were talking about and misunderstood.”