Ex-Waitress Sues Westwood Bar Over Skimpy Skirts, Ratings System
WESTWOOD (CBS) — A former waitress is suing the owners of a popular sports bar near UCLA after they allegedly fired her for refusing to wear short skirts while on the job.
KCAL9's Cristy Fajardo reports plaintiff and former bar employee Courtney Scaramella filed a lawsuit on Monday against the owners of O'Hara's in Westwood for "embarrassing" her after a new manager forced her and other cocktail waitresses to wear skimpy plaid schoolgirl-type skirts.
"They just can't treat people like this," said Scaramella. "What's right is right and this was not fair."
Scaramella, 23, said she worked at the bar since 2008 without any problems until management introduced a new dress code for employees in an effort to boost sales — which included a mini-skirt held together by a strip of Velcro.
She also claims managers placed fans on the floor of the bar that would blow waitresses' skirts up in the air as they rang up customers at the register, a move Scaramella called "embarrassing" and "uncomfortable".
"The fans would blow up the skirts and expose their bottoms," said attorney Toni Jaramilla.
Scaramella also objected to another bar policy that allowed bar patrons to rate female customers on their attractiveness on a scale of 1-through-10 and award the top vote-getters with free shots of liquor.
The lawsuit claims she sent a written complaint to the owner of O'Hara's, which eventually resulted in management dropping the new dress code — and ultimately led to her hours being cut and eventually terminated altogether.
An attorney for the owners denied the lawsuit's allegations.
"She was not fired, she quit," said attorney Roger H. Licht. "They plan on fighting this all the way to the end to prove that the claims are baseless."
Licht also said his clients have no plans to offer a settlement.
