Cocktail waitresses seek damages against casino

At first, Jennifer Jones didn't tell her bosses about her pregnancy. The Imperial Palace cocktail waitress said she was afraid of losing her job.

When she finally did inform the hotel-casino management four years ago that she was expecting, Jones wasn't fired, but she was given a lower paying job with fewer hours.

She complained immediately, but was told, "That's the way it's always been, and that's the way it's going to be," Jones told a jury in U.S. District Court during a trial that began this week against the Las Vegas hotel-casino.

Jones and five other women filed a lawsuit against the company three years ago, alleging they were discriminated against when they became pregnant and could no longer fit into their skimpy uniforms.

The policy at the Imperial Palace has since been changed, and cocktail waitresses are allowed to wear a modified uniform if they become pregnant. But Jones and the other women are seeking punitive damages and lost wages from the company for what they say occurred before the policy change.

Officials of the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which filed the class-action lawsuit on behalf of the women, have said the case could have far-reaching implications for the Nevada gaming industry that thrives with help from scantily clad cocktail waitresses.

The trial began Wednesday and continued this morning with testimony from Jones, who donned for jurors a new maternity uniform she wears now while working at the Imperial Palace. Jones is seven months pregnant with her second child and continues to work as a cocktail waitress at the hotel-casino she is suing.

Being able to keep her waitress job has been a big bonus for Jones during her second pregnancy, she said. Her baby is due in September.

"I don't think I would have another baby if I had to go through that again," she said of losing her waitress job four years ago.

Attorneys for the Imperial Palace maintain the waitresses were not discriminated against, because they were offered other jobs for the duration of their pregnancy. All new employees hired to serve cocktails sign a disclaimer that notes the job is one of "glamor and sex appeal."

The lawsuit alleges the hotel-casino violated federal employment laws against discrimination based on gender. The other current and former Imperial Palace cocktail waitresses involved in the lawsuit include Rebecca Soto, Glenda Austin, Lori Neville, Anne VanHoose and Yolanda Brackens.

The trial before federal Judge Lloyd George is scheduled to last five days.

After opening statements Wednesday, Austin told jurors she had been a cocktail waitress at Imperial Palace for 10 years when she first became pregnant in 1993. During her second pregnancy two years later, Austin said she was transferred from the casino floor to a hotel switchboard. The job paid less for fewer hours, and she had difficulty adjusting to the new position, she said.

"I could still wear my (waitress) uniform, but they didn't want me walking on the floor," she said.

Austin said she earned $7.63 an hour as a cocktail waitress, and averaged $2.42 an hour in tips. The switchboard job paid $9.68 an hour, but was not full time. She said she lost $5,500 as a result of being transferred during her pregnancy.

"I didn't want to make any waves on the job, because it was important for me to have a job," Austin said.

Imperial Palace owner Ralph Englestad testified briefly Wednesday, saying he became aware of the federal law banning gender discrimination in 1996. The company changed its policy of removing pregnant women from the casino floor in September 1997, three months after Jones filed a complaint with the Nevada Equal Employment Commission.

"You believe there is nothing attractive about a pregnant cocktail waitress, don't you?" attorney Peter Laura of the EEOC asked Englestad.

"No, as far as being sexy, I don't," he replied.

Under questioning by Jones' attorney Nancy Killeen, company director of beverages Robert Brinkmeyer said the uniform of a cocktail waitress who had breast implants would be altered. No alterations were done for cocktail waitresses who were breast-feeding, however, Brinkmeyer said.

Included in the agreement cocktail waitresses sign when they are hired is a statement that they will not gain more than six pounds while employed with the company.

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