ratito921
09-27-2007, 08:58 AM
http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_269112712.html
Woman Says She Was Fired For Not Wearing Tankini
(WJZ/AP) GRASONVILLE, Md. A breast cancer survivor who says a Kent Island bar where she worked fired her for not wearing a skimpy top
is subject of a lawsuit federal employment authorities have filed on her behalf.
Red Eye's Dock Bar in Grasonville is accused of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act for not waiving its uniform policy to accommodate Margaret Finley, a bartender who asked to be excused from the restaurant's policy calling for tight tank tops on female employees.
"Finley had requested a reasonable accommodation to be excused from the bar's dress code policy, which required that she wear a scanty 'tankini' top. Her request to be excused from the 'tankini' requirement resulted in her termination," according to a statement Wednesday from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission office in Baltimore, which filed the lawsuit.
Red Eye's, a waterfront bar that promotes its rowdy summertime bikini contests, did not immediately respond to a call for comment.
Commission lawyer Debra Lawrence said Finley, 55, had worked at Red Eye's for 11 years when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Finley underwent chemotherapy, radiation and a lumpectomy before returning to work in 2006.
Lawrence said that Finley asked to wear a hat to cover her hair loss, but management refused, so Finley worked bareheaded. When a new policy requiring bartenders to wear the tight tank tops was instituted, Finley asked not to wear them and was fired, Lawrence said.
"She was nearly bald and when she requested that she wear a cap to hide her baldness, the employee refused, so she dealt with it. She didn't wear a cap," Lawrence said. But when the tankini policy was announced, "it didn't cover her disfigurement.
"There were scars from radiation, from her lumpectomy," Lawrence said. "She really didn't want to go around bearing
evidence of her treatments."
The lawsuit, filed Friday, seeks back pay plus unspecified damages. Lawrence said Finley, who splits her time between Chester, Md., and Florida, has gotten another job but would prefer reinstatement at Red Eye's.
"It's something that she does and does well," Lawrence said.
Lawrence said Finley is healthy and "upbeat."
"She is no longer battling the breast cancer," Finley said.
Woman Says She Was Fired For Not Wearing Tankini
(WJZ/AP) GRASONVILLE, Md. A breast cancer survivor who says a Kent Island bar where she worked fired her for not wearing a skimpy top
is subject of a lawsuit federal employment authorities have filed on her behalf.
Red Eye's Dock Bar in Grasonville is accused of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act for not waiving its uniform policy to accommodate Margaret Finley, a bartender who asked to be excused from the restaurant's policy calling for tight tank tops on female employees.
"Finley had requested a reasonable accommodation to be excused from the bar's dress code policy, which required that she wear a scanty 'tankini' top. Her request to be excused from the 'tankini' requirement resulted in her termination," according to a statement Wednesday from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission office in Baltimore, which filed the lawsuit.
Red Eye's, a waterfront bar that promotes its rowdy summertime bikini contests, did not immediately respond to a call for comment.
Commission lawyer Debra Lawrence said Finley, 55, had worked at Red Eye's for 11 years when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Finley underwent chemotherapy, radiation and a lumpectomy before returning to work in 2006.
Lawrence said that Finley asked to wear a hat to cover her hair loss, but management refused, so Finley worked bareheaded. When a new policy requiring bartenders to wear the tight tank tops was instituted, Finley asked not to wear them and was fired, Lawrence said.
"She was nearly bald and when she requested that she wear a cap to hide her baldness, the employee refused, so she dealt with it. She didn't wear a cap," Lawrence said. But when the tankini policy was announced, "it didn't cover her disfigurement.
"There were scars from radiation, from her lumpectomy," Lawrence said. "She really didn't want to go around bearing
evidence of her treatments."
The lawsuit, filed Friday, seeks back pay plus unspecified damages. Lawrence said Finley, who splits her time between Chester, Md., and Florida, has gotten another job but would prefer reinstatement at Red Eye's.
"It's something that she does and does well," Lawrence said.
Lawrence said Finley is healthy and "upbeat."
"She is no longer battling the breast cancer," Finley said.