Lambda Legal Appeals Federal Sex Discrimination Case on Behalf of Woman Fired from Harrah's Casino

(Reno, June 16, 2003) - Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund filed appeal papers in federal court today on behalf of a woman who was fired from her job as a bartender at Harrah’s Casino in Reno after 21 years for not adhering to rigid sex stereotypes in the company’s new dress code.

In August 2000, Darlene Jespersen was fired from her position as a bartender at Harrah’s after the company enacted a new dress code, called the “Personal Best” program, requiring all women in the beverage department to wear makeup, specified as foundation or powder, blush, lipstick and mascara. The women were also required to wear their hair teased, curled or styled, and to wear nude or natural color stockings. Women wishing to wear nail polish were limited to clear, white, pink or red color only.

During her two full decades working for Harrah’s, Jespersen’s supervisors consistently rated her “highly effective” in all aspects of her work, including her personal appearance. But because wearing makeup made her feel so sexualized and uncomfortable that she couldn’t do her job, she was fired. "To me, wearing makeup should be a personal choice. I'm doing the same job as male bartenders, and they don't have to wear makeup,” Jespersen said.

After she was fired, Jespersen filed a federal lawsuit accusing Harrah’s of sex discrimination that is prohibited under federal law. Federal civil rights laws have been seen as allowing employers to have dress codes or other standards that impose different but essentially equal burdens on men and women. But Harrah’s Casino’s “Personal Best” program is not an equal burden on men and women, since men are required only to keep their hair cut above the collar, finger nails trimmed and their face free of makeup. In addition, the law has become increasingly clear that employers violate federal law if they require either male or female employees conform to outdated, oppressive gender stereotypes as a condition of their jobs.

Late last year, a federal judge ruled against Jespersen, saying the appearance standards were applied evenhandedly to both sexes, and Lambda Legal stepped in to help handle her case at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, where today’s papers were filed.

“Employers are certainly allowed to require their workers to present a professional appearance - but Harrah’s went too far by requiring women to fit extreme, burdensome stereotypes, which is exactly what federal civil rights laws forbid,” said Jennifer C. Pizer, senior staff attorney in Lambda Legal’s Western Regional Office.

According to Lambda Legal, courts have been clear that employers cannot impose such different standards for men and women. More than two decades ago, the same appeals court hearing this case said an airline violated sex discrimination laws by setting more restrictive appearance rules for female than for male flight attendants. The appeals court ruled similarly just three years ago.

Lambda Legal’s appeal on behalf of Jespersen argues that Harrah’s Casino demeaned her as a person and held her to a more confining and unfair standard of dress than her male co-workers. Lambda Legal argues that Harrah’s Casino’s “Personal Best” policy goes much farther than what is reasonable because it is so extreme in requiring women to dress in such an ultra-feminine appearance, which is far more stereotyped and oppressive to women than what is usual in the contemporary workplace.

“This is a classic sex discrimination case,” said Pizer. “Harrah’s fired Darlene because she wouldn’t adhere to the most extreme stereotypes of women, even though her supervisors praised her and her customers loved her.”

Harrah’s Casino has 30 days to file court papers responding to today’s filing. Pizer represents Jespersen together with New York-based Lambda Legal attorney Jennifer Middleton and cooperating attorney Ken McKenna in Reno.

Contact: Fred Shank, 212/809-8585 ext. 267