Brandy Livingston, NY transgender woman sues Hooters for refusing to hire her despite applying three times to work at the outlet. But is she really being discriminated because of her gender?
Can anyone guess why anyone would dine at Hooters…? An upstate NY transgender woman has filed a lawsuit against a popular restaurant chain best known for hiring scantily clad females after claiming the chain refusing to hire on three separate occasions, citing discrimination.
Brandy Livingston told NEWS 10 that she applied three times to work at the chain’s diner in Colonie, despite her saying she was harassed by staff as a ‘regular customer.’
‘They would use male pronouns — they would refer to me as ‘he,” alleged Livingston, who only recently transitioned to female.
Brandy Livingston insists on becoming a Hooters fantasy
‘I overheard one of the servers after I left the restroom talking to one of the managers and said, ‘Why are you allowing him in the women’s restroom?’ And the manager said, ‘Oh, I don’t like it any more than you do,” Livingston alleged.
Despite the circumspect dynamics at the venue, Livingston said she felt compelled (do you suppose…?) to apply to work at the outlet. Three application attempts later and Livingston has yet to be hired the outlet, leading to her to now believe her job application was rejected because of her gender identity.
A hiring manager didn’t even care if she had suitable experience, she told News 10. ‘He said, ‘Oh, we don’t care about experience. We hire on the basis of personality. And there’s an image that needs to be met,” she alleged.
But that’s not the way Hooters sees things with the outlet insisting Livingston was ‘asked to not return’ to the restaurant, citing ‘alarming behavior’ that began before she transitioned.
The chain alleges Livingston having made multiple servers uncomfortable by asking them for marriage along with discussing m*sturbation — and even threatening to go to a gun range to practice for the next time she visited, lawyers for the chain told NEWS 10.
Sex based discrimination?
Asked about the allegations, Livingston maintained that she ‘never said anything about’ m*sturbation or marriage — and that the gun-range complaint was likely a misunderstanding.
‘My mom would take me to the gun range and for clay pigeon shooting, trap. I feel like one of the servers might have overheard what me and my dad were talking about and misunderstood what we were talking about,’ she told News 10. Local authorities did not have any reports of gun threats related to Hooters’ claims, the outlet reported.
Livingston said she is ‘suing Hooters for sex-based discrimination, on the basis of accommodation and on the basis of employment.’
‘What I really want is an apology. I’m never going to get that,’ she said of her one-time favorite restaurant.
She filed a claim with the New York State Division of Human Rights, which says it found sufficient evidence that her rights may have been violated under New York Executive Law 296.
A Human Rights hearing has been set for September next year.
Hooters has declined media overtures for comment on the case.
