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Lambda Legal Launches Multimedia Blitz Focusing on Harrah's Firing of a Veteran Bartender Who Refused to Wear Mandatory Make-up

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"The thousands of signatures on this petition show employers that fair-minded people know that it is wrong to fire a good employee just because she won't make herself up like a doll for work."
January 30, 2006

(Reno, Nevada, January 30, 2006) — Lambda Legal today announced a multimedia campaign blitz — targeting gamblers, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the general public — to draw attention to a federal lawsuit against Harrah’s Casino for firing a 21-year bartender, Darlene Jespersen, because she refused to make up her face every day to match a photo given to her by Harrah’s.


Lambda Legal’s “Shame on You Harrah’s” campaign already has collected more than 6,000 signatures of people protesting the firing of Jespersen. Strategically placed on-line banner ads about the campaign are targeting gamblers and the LGBT community. The banner ads provide information about the case and encourage viewers to sign Lambda Legal’s online petition. Banner ads have been placed on LGBT websites like www.365gay.com and www.outinamerica.com. Gamblers will see the ad on www.totalaction.com. To view the petition, visit http://ga4.org/campaign/BlowtheWhistle_Jespersen. In addition, Lambda Legal has sent an action alert to its members urging them to sign the petition and gather friends and family to do so as well.


The campaign will include an advertisement in the Sunday, February 5 edition of the Reno Gazette-Journal with thousands of signatures decrying Harrah’s discriminatory action. Jespersen worked at Harrah’s in Reno, Nevada and is a resident of Reno.


“So far the response to the campaign has been outstanding,” said Michael Adams, Director of Education and Public Affairs at Lambda Legal. “The thousands of signatures on this petition show employers that fair-minded people know that it is wrong to fire a good employee just because she won’t make herself up like a doll for work.”


Lambda Legal represents Darlene Jespersen in a federal lawsuit against Harrah’s Casino. Jespersen was a dedicated, top-performing bartender for Harrah’s in Reno, Nevada for 21 years. Jespersen refused to comply with a new dress code that required women to wear a full regimen of makeup (foundation or powder, blush, mascara and lipstick at all times), applied precisely the same way every day to match a photo provided by Harrah’s. A decision in the case is currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.


The “Shame on You Harrah’s” campaign is part of Lambda Legal’s program to “Blow the Whistle on Workplace Discrimination.” Earlier this month Lambda Legal launched its Blow the Whistle website at www.lambdalegal.org/btw.


The lawsuit, Jespersen v. Harrah’s Casino, is being handled by Jennifer C. Pizer, Senior Counsel in Lambda Legal’s Western Regional Office in Los Angeles. She is joined by cooperating attorney Ken McKenna in Reno, Nevada.

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