The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments last week in a case testing
whether a casino violated nondiscrimination law by firing a bartender who refused
to wear makeup, the Associated Press reports.
The court agreed to hear the case of Darlene Jespersen against Harrah's Entertainment
en banc (with all judges present) after a three-judge panel from the
court dismissed the lawsuit in December.
The casino fired Jespersen after refused to comply with a requirement for female
servers to wear makeup. The requirement was a part of the casino's revised "Beverage
Department Image Transformation" program, which set the appearance standards
for men and women. The policy forbid men from wearing makeup and required them
to maintain short haircuts and neatly trimmed fingernails.
Jespersen says she refused to wear makeup because it interfered with her job
and degraded her.
"The women employees are being given a demeaning message that their faces
aren't good enough," Jennifer Pizer, Jespersen's attorney, said last week.
In December, the three-judge panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
rejected Jespersen's argument. In deciding the case, the panel used the "unequal
burdens" test for assessing whether sex-differentiated appearance standards
discriminate on the basis of sex. The court ruled that she failed to prove the
standards were more burdensome on women than on men.
Jespersen argues the policy is more burdensome on women than on men.
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