Thursday, April 28, 2005 | 9:41 a.m.
ATLANTIC CITY -- Two women hired as "Borgata Babes" cocktail servers are accusing the casino of discrimination, saying a weight-limit policy at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa forced them off the job and led to one being fired.
In civil complaints filed with the state Division on Civil Rights and made public Wednesday, Trisha Hart and Renee Gaud said the Borgata's zeal to keep its drink servers slim unfairly burdens women and older employees.
Borgata officials wouldn't comment on the cases, citing the litigation.
Hart, 28, of Wenonah, who was a 5-foot-9-inch, 144-pound size 6 when she was hired, said she lost 15 pounds and dropped to a size 0 costume because of an eating disorder and pressure from her superiors to lose weight. Her bosses commended and encouraged her when she lost weight, the complaint states.
She was eventually fired after complaining about the policy and being forced to undergo a drug test as part of a leave of absence she took, according to her complaint, which said the test's results were used as a pretext for her dismissal. The complaint, filed Tuesday, does not state what the results of the tests were.
Gaud, 35, of Mays Landing, who said she suffers from hypothyroidism, was a 5-foot-9 size 4 when she was hired in June 2003 but gained weight because of her condition, according to her complaint, filed April 19. When she asked for a bigger dress, the complaint alleges she was told: "Borgata Babes don't go up in size."
The stress and hostile working environment caused by the weight limit caused her to take a leave of absence, in connection with which the casino forced her to also undergo a drug test, according to the complaint.
The complaints, released Wednesday by the state, accuse Borgata of "unlawful employment discrimination on the basis of sex and disability and unlawful reprisal" in violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.
The policy allows the casino to fire servers who gain more than 7 percent of their body weight and can't shed it during three-month leaves of absence.
Borgata officials say the weight limits are legal and necessary to make sure the servers -- who wear cleavage-baring designer outfits -- remain the slim, sexy brand ambassadors they were when they were hired.
The policy, which applies to about 160 women and 50 costumed male bartenders, requires that the men maintain "V-shaped torsos, broad shoulders and slim waists."
Critics say the policy, which is the subject of one civil suit and is being formally challenged by the cocktail servers' union in arbitration, encourages eating disorders by threatening the jobs of those who pack on pounds.
On Feb. 18, Borgata started weighing employees to establish a base weight against which their future size is compared. Those found to have gained too much at random weigh-ins can be suspended for up to 90 days and fired if they can't lose the weight with the help of a company-sponsored weight-loss program.
There are exceptions for women who get pregnant or have a medical condition contributing to their gain.
Gaud, a veteran cocktail server who has worked at several Atlantic City casinos, says she told Borgata officials she suffered from hypothyroidism when she was hired but said her requests for leniency on the 7 percent rule had been denied.
In an interview Wednesday, Gaud -- who took a voluntary three-month leave the day before she was to have her first weigh-in -- said she would not have gone to work at Borgata to begin with if the weight requirements were in effect then.
She said hypothyroidism causes her weight to fluctuate, but said she didn't know how much she had gained. Whatever the gain, it should not be an issue, she said.
"I don't think women or men care what we look like, as long as we get them their drinks," she said. "Most of the men I talk to (in the casino) like women with some meat on their bones, not some anorexic thing."
But she plans to return to work in mid-May because she needs the money.
Borgata, which has endured harsh criticism over the policy, is standing by it. Spokesman Michael Facenda would not address the specifics of the complaints Wednesday.
"Because this is pending litigation and a personnel matter, we will refrain from commenting," said Facenda, who also re-issued an earlier statement by the casino calling the policy legal, nondiscriminatory and fair.
"Borgata's costumed beverage servers and costumed bartenders are a vital aspect of the overall customer experience," said the statement.
The state may take up to six months to investigate the complaints. If the casino is found to have violated the Law Against Discrimination, it could be fined, ordered to compensate the women for back pay, medical expenses and legal expenses or to change the policy, according to Frank Vespa-Papaleo, director the Division on Civil Rights.
"It's going to be a long, drawn-out battle," Gaud said.
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