22 former Borgata Casino waitresses were fired after they gained too much weight, but a court said that's OK.
An Atlantic City casino has won a court battle over the right to set weight restrictions of its so called “Borgata Babes.”
Twenty-two cocktail waitresses brought a lawsuit against the popular Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, alleging that its policy of not allowing its waitresses to gain or lose more than 7 percent of their body weight after hiring is discriminatory, according to an AOL.com report.
The women said they were advised to consume laxatives or not take certain prescribed medicines in order to stay within their specified weight range, the court documents allege.
However, an appeals court in New Jersey has ruled that gender discrimination isn’t a factor because male servers are also held accountable under the same weight provision, and the staff had willfully agreed to the provision in their employment contracts, which included a requirement to maintain their appearance.
There was a silver lining for the plaintiffs: 11 of them who claimed harassment for pregnancy or a weight gain related to illness were wrongfully dismissed, the court ruled.
This portion of the lawsuit will go back to the lower courts to see if it was a result of a hostile work environment.
The Borgata is one of the crown jewels of the casino-heavy Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is owned by Marina District Development, which was created as a joint venture between MGM Resorts International and Boyd Gaming. The gleaming golden towers of the Borgata include 2,002 rooms and it is the largest hotel in the entire state. The Borgata is the top-grossing casino in the entire city.
It is 161,000 square feet of gaming space, its own comedy club and poker room, and a number of high-end restaurants. It opened in 2003, and has been renovated three times since then.
Its “Borgata Babes” are a signature part of the Borgata hotel. They are the waitresses that serve gamers on the gaming floor as they play casino games like blackjack, poker, and slots.
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