Wednesday, May 14, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
An Imperial Palace cocktail waitress says she was discriminated against last year when she was forced into a lower-paying job because she became pregnant and could no longer fit into her skimpy uniform.
The Nevada Equal Rights Commission recently found there was probable cause to believe that 26-year-old Jennifer Jones was treated unfairly when she was forced to take a job as a bar-back (a person responsible for stocking the bar), at the Strip resort when her pregnancy became noticeable.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Los Angeles began consideration of the case last week.
Federal law prohibits employers from "discriminating or treating someone differently because of their gender or because of a condition such as pregnancy and that's what the Imperial Palace has done -- mandated that if you get pregnant you cannot continue with your job until you are no longer pregnant," said Jones' attorney Nancy Killeen.
The resort declined comment on this and a similar case reported two weeks ago. But in a previous response to a different and unrelated sexual discrimination complaint, it indicated it is looking for a glamorous and sexy image that is attained by sleek cocktail waitress wearing skimpy uniforms.
Jones said she had been working on the casino floor in 1995, and was rotated to the showroom for a three-month stint as part of management policy. She became pregnant around Christmas of 1995 while she was working in the showroom and said she asked her supervisors if she could remain in the showroom until the baby was born.
She said she was not given a definitive answer. Later when her pregnancy began to show and she could not fit into her cocktail uniform, she was told that business was slow in the showroom. She said she was given the opportunity to work as a bar-back if she didn't fit into her cocktail uniform anymore.
Many major Strip resorts provide maternity uniforms for pregnant cocktail waitresses, but the Imperial Palace makes no such provisions. Any uniform alterations must be approved by management and all cocktail waitresses are inspected before each shift, Jones said.
Management wants to make sure the waitresses are wearing their name tags and lipstick, that the uniforms are clean and that they have inserted the proper padding in their bras "to make sure our boobs are pushed up and out," Jones said.
'They totally look down on you just because you're pregnant," said Jones, who has worked at the Strip resort for more than three years. "I cried, it was stressful. You're supposed to be happy. You're pregnant, you're having your first baby."
She said after working several weeks as a bar-back, she complained to management and asked why the resort didn't provide maternity uniforms. Jones said she was told "We've always done it that way."
She was then given a job as a hotel PBX operator for the remainder of her pregnancy. She returned to her cocktail waitress job five weeks after her son, Triston, was born in September of 1996.
Neither Jones nor her attorney would discuss how much money she lost during the six months she was forced to work as a bar-back and PBX operator. They described it as a "substantial" cut in pay and said it occurred primarily because she lost the tips she formerly enjoyed as a cocktail waitress.
Jones and Killeen are seeking a change in policy at the resort as well as lost wages.
Jones and her husband, Tim, had just bought a new house when Jones became pregnant and the episode put a financial burden on the family.
"She was being punished because she was pregnant and she didn't fit what their image of what a woman should look like," said Jones' husband, Tim, an assistant manager at a sporting goods store.
If the EEOC finds probable cause that Jones was discriminated against, it will give the Imperial Palace an opportunity to settle the case out of court.
Killeen said settlement isn't likely. It has been attempted several times previously, but no realistic offers were forthcoming from the resort.
"I don't want to settle unless they will change the policy. I'm not in it for the money. I think they should have dresses for pregnant women. I plan to have more children. I don't want to go through that stress all the time and I don't want other women to go through it," Jones said.
If the resort won't settle, the EEOC could file a discrimination suit in federal court on behalf of Jones and other women of childbearing age at the resort. If the commission finds probable cause to believe discrimination took place but does not have the resources to handle the case itself, it could issue a notice giving Jones and Killeen permission to file a private suit.
It will be in federal court by this summer "one way or another," Killeen promised.
This is the second such case to receive publicity in the past month. Another Imperial Palace cocktail waitress, Pilar Martinez, filed a similar complaint with the Nevada Equal Rights Commission in January. She and her attorney, Richard Segerblom, are awaiting a decision.
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