Casino Introduces Skimpy Uniforms, Fires Middle-Aged Cocktail Waitresses

Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City is being sued for discrimination after it fired 15 middle-aged cocktail servers, allegedly to make way for younger women. To make matters worse, before the experienced servers were given the boot, they were forced to squeeze into skimpy new uniforms and photographed from the neck down.

Nancy Schromsky, who has worked at the casino since 1978, tells the Philadelphia Daily News that she didn’t think her job was at risk when was told to model the new uniform. “I truly thought they were putting us in them to make adjustments, so they would look nice on everyone,” she said. Yet last month she was fired over the phone for “not meeting uniform requirements.” “I wasn’t trying to compete with a 21-year-old and she can’t compete with my people skills. I do a damn good job,” she said.

The hotel was purchased by new owners in December and is switching over to a Boardwalk Empire-inspired Roaring ’20s theme. The hotel owners claim that all cocktail servers, “were given individual consideration and the selection process was conducted in a fair and objective manner.” They added, “We empathize with the cocktail servers who lost their jobs and gave them hiring preference in other open positions at Resorts.”

The lawsuit, which was filed by seven of the fired cocktail servers, accuses casino owner Dennis Gomes of creating a “sham evaluation process.” The women say the photo shoot was degrading, and some women were told to remove their bras. “They told some girls to spread their legs. They told me they needed two shots of my back side,” said Schromsky. “It was disgusting. It was dehumanizing.”

The women’s lawyer says wearing a sexy uniform isn’t a job requirement for being a cocktail server, but the casino says the outfits are a “critical aspect” of the rebranding. According to Press of Atlantic City, a separate discrimination suit has been filed on behalf of 39 cocktail servers who were fired earlier this year. Their lawyer claims that Gomes tried to avoid discrimination suits by keeping on a few middle-aged women as “decoys” in the first round of firings, but eventually they were all replaced with women in their 20s.

No Room In Resorts’ Skimpy Costumes For Flappers In Their 50s [Philadelphia Daily News]
Lawsuit Claims Resorts’ Used Sham Auditions To Fire Middle-Aged Cocktail Servers [Press Of Atlantic City]