Wednesday, September 13, 2006

OY VEY!

Did you happen to catch the article in yesterday's NEW YORK POST? Apparently a couple of female employees of one the more popular pubs in Midtown are suing their employer for what could be called "weight discrimination". If you think I'm kidding, check it out:

WEIGHTRESS OUTRAGE AT PUB

SEX-HARASS LAWSUIT

By DAN MANGAN (www.nypost.com)

September 12, 2006 -- Two ex-waitresses at a trendy East Side bar are serving up a heavy-duty, $15 million sex-harassment lawsuit, accusing their former bosses of ordering female employees to be weighed as part of a bizarre scheme to keep tabs on their poundage.
"They told me I needed to get on the scale," said one of the women, Kristen McRedmond, about her humiliating experience in a manager's office at Sutton Place Bar and Restaurant in July.

"I told them I'm not going to be part of your sick game," recalled McRedmond, 27, who said she physically resisted when a beefy manager tried to pick her up to get her on the scale while another manager looked on.

"I just felt so violated."

McRedmond and fellow former Sutton Place waitress Alexandria Lipton, 25, both said the scale episode came a few weeks after a top manager at the Second Avenue watering hole had walked around with pen and pad in hand demanding to know how much all the waitresses weighed so he could record the results.

"The manager, Neil, came over to me and asked me how much I weigh. I said, 'I don't know.' He looks me up and down, and he goes, '135' . . . Then he writes down my weight," Lipton said.

Both women said only female workers were singled out for the weigh-ins and questions about their weight, and that it was done without explanation. And they claim the managers would criticize waitresses - but not waiters - for ordering fatty fried food for their own dinners.

They also claim that waitresses' individual weights were tracked on a computer spreadsheet - and the results placed on a Web site that tracked the weights of waitresses in other establishments in the city. "I've been doing sexual-harassment law for 20 years, and this has to be the most egregious case of degradation to women that I have ever seen," said the women's lawyer, Rosemarie Arnold. "It's unbelievable."

Arnold and her co-counsel, Joseph Tacopina, today are filing suit on behalf of the women in Manhattan Supreme Court against Sutton Place and its owner, Richard Kassis, as well as managers including Neil, who is listed as "Neil Doe" because his last name is unknown.

The suit accuses the defendants of sexual harassment and illegally firing McRedmond and Lipton after they were overheard complaining about the weigh-ins, which, it says, had severely upset most other female workers.

Sutton Place's lawyer, Joel Simon, denied the allegations, calling them a "nice piece of fiction," but declined to address them point by point, and also declined to say why the women were fired. "I believe that once the facts are known, it will be seen that the individuals were fired due to their own fault, and not to do with anything related to these allegations," Simon said.

(source)

Your thoughts?


Last night saw a share of more tourists than normal, no doubt due to the 9/11 Memorial Ceremonies. I noticed people from all over the country, from states ranging from Pennsylvania to places as far away as Washington and Oregon. There were also a large number of foreign visitors, from places like England, Norway, Germany, France and Hong Kong. I even got a couple in town from Iceland!

We also got a lot of military types, out for the evening after dealing with 9/11-related activities. They were very friendly and outgoing; They were also excited to partake in dollar drafts (I guess the military doesn't pay well).

MASTER THESPIAN got lucky and ended up meeting a Victoria Secret model, right at the bar. A pretty hot brunette, she just moved into the neighborhood from Virgina Beach, VA. She stumbled onto our little place on Monday and apparently fell in love with it. She even offered to put on an impromptu underwear fashion show at our bar this week! She wanted to model her underwear while walking on the bar, but quite frankly, it wouldn't work out. She's too damn tall! So we agreed to have her model her goodies on the floor. Now I'll believe it when I see it, but she seemed pretty serious about it. We'll see...

Overall, a pretty smooth evening. Oh, and I got to have another conversation with CIGAL.... She was on her way to a bachelorette party and stopped by to say hi. Asked if I ever had a night off and when I told her how rare those were, she got a laugh out of it. Said she'll pass by again as she knows where to find me.... (Damn she's fine!)

I'll have to cut this post short as I have to open up shop and work the day shift tomorrow. By the way, we are expecting a return visit from MIAMI NICE tonight after a brief hiatus!


NUFF SAID