Hooters

1.     We believe that Joseph Garcia was not a victim of illegal sex discrimination, based on the “essence of the business” for the Hooters Restaurant. The sole purpose of their business is to attract a majority male population by hiring young females for the their waitresses. It is their essence of business and main differentiator against competitors. This means that they are safe in hiring only female waitresses because it is a BFOQ (Bonafide Occupational Qualification) of the business. Hooters specifically hires female waitresses for a reason to create certain environment and atmosphere to the restaurant, and hiring Mr. Garcia would change that environment and potentially harm business.

2.    Carol Cameron has a legitimate case against the LaVeille Maison for sex discrimination. Ms. Cameron was discriminated against after not being hired for a waitress position. The restaurant claims they only hire waiters to acquire the “French atmosphere” that they desire. They may claim this is the essence of their restaurant, but based on BFOQ for a business, this does not seem to fit, as hiring a female as a waitress would not affect the restaurant’s profits. The essence of their business is French cuisine verses where the essence of Hooters’ business being an atmosphere. Ms. Cameron was able to perform all the duties of a waitress and her performance would not affect profits. She was a victim of sex discrimination.

3.     We see each of these cases differently in terms of legal BFOQs. Hooters is a company that does a very good job at selecting a target market and going after just that one, specific target. They believe what will sell to the young adult male demographic (their target market) is the atmosphere that Hooters creates, filled with wings, sports, beer, and attractive women. A large majority of their consumer base go there for that sole reason. In this case, that would mean that hiring women who are attractive top priority because the essence of the...