Weight limits set for servers

John Curran

Friday, Feb. 18, 2005 | 9:29 a.m.

ATLANTIC CITY -- At the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, cocktail servers who have trouble squeezing into their low-cut bustiers will soon be squeezed out -- out of a job, that is.

The casino is threatening to fire servers who gain more than 7 percent of their body weight, infuriating women's rights advocates, the cocktail servers' union and others who call it discriminatory. Under the policy, announced to employees last week, anyone who puts on too much gets an unpaid suspension of up to 90 days to get rid of it.

If they can't, they will be fired unless they are pregnant or have a medical condition contributing to their weight, casino officials said.

"Women should not have to starve themselves just to keep their jobs," said Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women & Families, a Washington-based advocacy group. "The policy places enormous stress on all the women and encourages eating disorders to reach a totally arbitrary goal."

The casino, whose edgy marketing themes and sexy accents have helped bowl over the competition since its opening in July 2003, contends there is nothing wrong with setting weight limits for its 210 costumed beverage servers, which include 160 Borgata Babes and 50 other male and female bartenders.

"Our costumed beverage servers are a huge part of our marketing and our branding image," said Cassie Fireman, vice president of talent. "We're a fun, upscale, energetic and sensual environment, and these positions are a large part of that."

Borgata Babes, who wear black, low-cut designer bustiers with crossing straps above the breasts, have become sex symbols unto themselves since the casino's debut, appearing in pinup style photographs in the casino's "Borgata Babes" calendar and representing the casino at public events.

According to Fireman, the new policy clarifies appearance standards that were established before the casino opened -- namely, that women servers should have "natural hourglass figures" and men "V-shaped torsos, broad shoulders and slim waists."

No weight limits were ever set, she said.

Now new hires and incumbents are being weighed to establish a base weight. Once that weight is established, they face punishment if they gain more than 7 percent of that weight. They are weighed in uniform, without shoes.

During suspensions, the company will pay to put the offending employee through a weight-loss program, and he or she will continue to have free access to the casino's spa. Those who can't shed the weight after 90 days will be dismissed, Fireman said.

Women who get pregnant or have a medical condition can remain overweight, but on the job must wear a specially designed "transitional" costume that consists of a strapless halter-style knit top and Capri-style pants, she said.

"We feel it's fair, we feel it's legal, we feel it's what our customers have come to expect at Borgata. It's part of our brand," Fireman said.

Borgata officials, who have allowed cocktail servers to be interviewed in the past, refused to do so Thursday. One who was asked her opinion of the weight limits declined comment.

Local 54 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union, which represents Borgata cocktail servers, has filed a grievance over the policy.

Former Borgata Babe Lori Allen, 36, who resigned last month amid fears that her weight gain would get her fired, said Borgata officials talked about weight limits long before they imposed them.

Allen, who is 6 feet tall, weighs 138 pounds -- 13 more than she did when she was hired 18 months ago. She said she takes antidepressants that have contributed to her gain.

"It's going to cause girls to binge, purge, whatever. It'll cause eating disorders. It's already causing stress," she said.

Some gamblers don't think it's fair either.

"That's awful," said Karen DiCaprio, 41, of Philadelphia, who was sitting at a roulette table. "So what if they gain a little weight? They're serving drinks, they're smiling. It doesn't matter. All people are interested in is gambling, anyway."

Steve Farr, 41, of Franklin Lakes, agreed.

"It's nice to have someone who's nice-looking come up to your table, but I don't care. If they can them because of their weight, that's wrong."

Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, also weighed in against the policy.

"At a very minimum, this is extraordinarily inappropriate because weight is extremely individual, and apparently that's not of any interest to the employer, but it should be. People should be healthy -- we all want that, and it's good to be at a healthy weight if that is possible. But what is a healthy weight varies from person to person," she said.

Jocelyn Samuels, a spokeswoman for the National Women's Law Center, said the policy would be discriminatory if it applied only to women or was part of an effort to harass women or drive them out of the work force.