The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced that it had settled a $1 million class action discrimination suit against Lawry’s Restaurants, a steakhouse chain.  Male employees had claimed gender discrimination, contending that for years the restaurant had only hired women for server positions. The EEOC had contended that since 1938 Lawry’s had not hired men for server positions.  Lawry’s responded that the female servers have been a long standing tradition and that they dressed in costumes from the 30’s and 40’s, creating a distinctive image. Lawry’s settled, agreeing to pay $300,000 for a hiring campaign, $500,000 to individuals in the class, and $200,000 for discrimination training.  The company also began hiring males as servers soon after the initial charges were filed.

It’s important to underscore that there are very few instances where an organization can successfully contend that such gender discrimination results from a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ).  Bathroom attendants and clothing models would be two examples where being female (or male) would be BFOQs.   Over the years many restaurants have made such claims, with limited success.  Other industries have also attempted such defenses (e.g., the airlines seeking only to hire women as attendants or TV stations desiring only male news anchors.)