A Study of Discrimination of Women in Upscale Restaurant in United States

Discrimination of Women in Upscale Restaurant in United States

Introduction

Discrimination is something that has always existed. The old testament of the Bible recounts numerous occasions when people were discriminated against because of their nationality and social status. Since then, we do not seem to have progressed much. There are stories daily in America about people being discriminated against because of race, creed, colour, national origin, age, etc. In 1964, (The Ann Arbor News, 2006, 26) the federal government recognized that the people of America as a whole could not, or would not stop discrimination on their own. Therefore, they passed the Civil Rights Act. This prohibited discrimination in employment and also in all public places. Did this help? No one can know for sure, but if the lawsuits are any indication, the answer is no. Thirty years later, there are still huge class-action lawsuits on discrimination.

Discrimination Of Women in Upscale Restaurant

For the restaurant industry, discrimination is on all fronts. Restaurants have been accused of discrimination by customers, employees, want-to-be employees, franchise owners, and on and on. As with any discrimination, only the “bad” cases get the press. For every one that hits that press, there are plenty that go unheard of and even unreported.

In Howell, Michigan, a black woman sued a restaurant claiming racial discrimination. The suit claimed that the restaurant, Mr.B's, violated her rights “by allowing or sanctioning a policy prohibiting the hiring of blacks at Mr. B's of Howell” (The Ann Arbor News, 2006, 26). The case was settled out of court under non-disclosure terms. Although the actual outcome of this case is not known, there are other interesting facts that arose. Supposedly, the discrimination against blacks was instigated at the corporate level of Mr.B's and was not specific to one location. Also, the former director of human resources and training signed a sworn affidavit saying, “Despite my efforts to have the (racist) policy revoked, Mr. B's Restaurant group and its officers and owners refused to do so” (The Ann Arbor News, 2006, 26).

A survey by the National Bureau of Economic Research confirmed that upscale restaurants prefer waiters over waitresses. The study selected one waiter and one waitress of equal qualification for each of the 65 restaurants for the study. At the high-end restaurants, 83% of the job offers went to men. At the cheap restaurants, ...