‘Skin Tone Is Subjective’: Hooters Reaches $250K Settlement After Management Expressed Preference for White Servers Who They Claimed Were ‘More Presentable’ Than Black Girls

Hooters agreed to settle a federal racial discrimination lawsuit for $250,000, the latest in a string of settlements brought on behalf of Black Hooters Girls. Renowned for hiring busty women to squeeze into skimpy short-shorts and serving deep-fried food, the “Breastaurant” has come under fire for its discriminatory practices against Black employees for years, including the 2015 firing of a server for having “not natural” blonde highlights. Hooters girls lawsuit (Credit: Getty Images) In the most recent case, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission stepped in — yet again — to sue a Greensboro, North Carolina, location in August 2023. The suit alleged that after temporary pandemic layoffs, the restaurant refused to recall their Black and dark-skinned waitresses. “Prior to the layoffs, 51 percent of Hooters Girls were Black and/or had dark skin tones,” stated an EEOC press release. After the May 2020 recall, all but one of the recalled servers were white or had light skin tone, and the total number of Black “Hooters Girls” fell to 8 percent. Even before the massive recall failed, discriminatory practices were rampant at the North Carolina location, stated the lawsuit via Fox 8. Managers were accused of subjecting Black and darker-skin-toned Hooters...