A transgender woman has filed a lawsuit against Hooters, claiming they rejected her application based on discrimination related to her image.
A transgender woman named Brandy Livingston is taking legal action against a Hooters restaurant in New York.
She claims that the restaurant refused to hire her because of her appearance and gender identity.
This case has raised important questions about discrimination and gender rights.
Transgender woman files lawsuit against Hooters for hiring rejection over “her image”
Brandy is a regular customer at the Hooters location in Colonie, a suburb of Albany.
She has applied for jobs there three times but was turned down each time. Brandy says she felt disrespected and not recognized as a woman by the staff.
She reported that employees used male pronouns when talking about her, which made her feel uncomfortable.
Feeling that her rights were violated, Brandy filed a complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights.
This division investigates claims of discrimination.
After looking into her case, the division found enough evidence to suggest that Brandy may have been treated unfairly.
The trans woman recounted discrimination during the hiring process
In her interviews, Brandy explained how she tried to show her qualifications for the job.
She asked the hiring manager if they wanted to see her work experience.
The manager reportedly replied, “We don’t care about experience. We hire on the basis of personality. And there’s an image that needs to be met.”
This statement troubled Brandy because it seemed to indicate that her appearance was more important than her skills or experience.
She added: “They would use male pronouns. They would refer to me as he.”
Brandy also described other incidents that made her uncomfortable.
She claimed that some employees harassed her when she used the women’s restroom.
She overheard a server questioning why she was allowed in there and heard the manager agree with the server’s comments.
This kind of treatment made Brandy feel unwelcome and targeted.
“I overheard one of the servers after I left the restroom talking to one of the managers and said that, “Why are you allowing him in the women’s restroom?” Brandy said.
“And the manager said, “Oh, I don’t like it any more than you do”.”
Hooters has responded to Brandy’s claims.
They stated that she was asked not to return to the restaurant due to alleged inappropriate behavior.
According to the company, Brandy had previously made sexually explicit comments to servers before her transition.
The chain also accused her of making threats about visiting a gun range.
Brandy has denied these allegations.
She expressed her belief that the restaurant staff misunderstood her conversations with her family.
Despite the accusations against her, Brandy insists that her main goal is not financial compensation. Instead, she requests an apology for the way they treated her.
“That I never said anything about. My mom would take me to the gun range and for clay pigeon shooting, trap.
“I feel like one of the servers might have overheard what me and my dad were talking about and misunderstood what we were talking about,” she said.
The New York State Division of Human Rights has scheduled a hearing for the case next September.
Brandy hopes this hearing will bring attention to her situation and help fight against discrimination faced by transgender individuals in the workplace.