Waitress being fired for being overweight
The article about Ruby Tuesday’s firing the overweight girl was very
disappointing to me. I understand that you don’t see a lot of overweight
waitresses…and they were to be commended for hiring her in the first place,
but letting
her go because she “doesn’t fit the image” is terrible. Years ago (I was
about 41 and weighed 301 pounds) I was working selling new homes for a builder
in
our area. I was extremely successful and won awards as top sales person of
the month several times and had the best record for sales in the entire company
while I worked for him. When the job was finished (I had sold all of his
townhomes) I was told that I would not be working for him in his next community
because I “didn’t fit the image” he wanted to portray. It really hurt. I swore
I would never work for him again, and I haven’t. The post script to that
story is that no one he hired COULD sell his stupid condos and he ended up
having
to make them into apartments. Served him right! lol Sometimes there is
justice 
And now I am a size 16, just got hired for a new community (have
done
many since the early eighties) and for the first time I got to go into a job
interview not petrified that I would have to suffer that humiliation again.
Thanks to WLS. Life is so much easier now!
Back to Ruby Tuesdays…I, for one, am willing to pass right by my former
favorite restaurant and go someplace where they know that people are people,
and good servers are gold~ no matter what size! Pat M
April 29th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
I too will bypass this restaurant in the future. I was appalled at the
restaurants audacity.
I am sure that many of us have had to deal with prejudice on the job. At my
last job, my boss continually gave me a “needs improvement” on my physical
presentation even though I dressed better than her most of the time, was always
showered, hair done and dressed well. And she was overweight herself!
April 29th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
I have to disagree with all of you. Waitresses and other customer service
positions are representatives of their employers. With an obese person as their
representative this sends the wrong message to Ruby Tuesday’s customer’s.
Ruby Tuesday’s wants people to order as much food as possible when they visit
their restaurant. Having a walking billboard of what happens to you when you
indulge in that behavior could affect their business.
Also, employers should be allowed to maintain standards of appearance for their
employees.
Also, before flaming me for my opinion, keep in mind that I myself am an RNY
patient. Since surgery I have lost over 100lbs and still have a long way to go.
JDA
April 30th, 2007 at 7:55 am
JDA,
I think you do have a point. People need to have the right “package” for
their target audience. That said, you also need to give people the tools for
success. If, as stated, this person didn’t have a uniform that fit, were there
reasonable accomodations made to assist? Now I am not saying that the company
should fork over tons of money to purchase one special uniform, but I am
guessing
that the employee could have made up the difference between the cost of a
regular size uniform and one that fit. I had to do this many times in the past.
This can also happen if people are short, tall or very petite.
If this person had a clean, manicured and professional “package” then that
should be the right marketing for the company. You are thinking of marketing in
one way…they want people to order lots of food. What about the other…wow!
The food must be great here…afterall, the employees are hearty!
~Michelle
-135lbs since 7/9/03
I have to disagree with all of you. Waitresses and other customer service
positions are representatives of their employers. With an obese person as
their
representative this sends the wrong message to Ruby Tuesday’s customer’s.
Ruby Tuesday’s wants people to order as much food as possible when they visit
their restaurant. Having a walking billboard of what happens to you when you
indulge in that behavior could affect their business.
Also, employers should be allowed to maintain standards of appearance for
their
employees.
Also, before flaming me for my opinion, keep in mind that I myself am an RNY
patient. Since surgery I have lost over 100lbs and still have a long way to
go.
JDA
April 30th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Jason” wrote:
Waitresses and other customer service positions are representatives
of their employers. With an obese person as their representative
this sends the wrong message to Ruby Tuesday’s customer’s.”
Ah, dear Jason, so you also believe that only skinny, muscular people
should be personal trainers?
How about nurses and doctors? They shouldn’t drink, smoke, have high
cholesterol, have weight problems, eat junk food, etc.?
Yes, I agree, it is better to be a good example for one’s clientele,
but I promise that hospitals would be empty of nurses if only the
healthy, good examples worked there! LOL!
….(just had to give you a little bit of a hard time, ok?)
Haze