Wednesday, May 07, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

COCKTAIL WAITRESSES' LAWSUIT: Deal closes book on 'Fat Meeting' case

Final plaintiff reaches confidential settlement with Mirage

The Mirage reached a confidential settlement Tuesday with the only remaining plaintiff in a discrimination lawsuit filed six years ago by a group of cocktail waitresses.

Charlotte Arrowsmith was one of 11 cocktail servers who filed the lawsuit, which claimed company officials told the women they would be transferred to other positions if they failed to lose weight.

Arrowsmith agreed to the settlement on what was to be the second day of the trial in the case.

"There comes a time when you just have to cut your losses, lick your wounds and be grateful that you aren't being sued for opposing counsel's legal fees," she said.

Mark Russell, general counsel for The Mirage, declined to comment on the settlement.

Attorney John Marcin began representing Arrowsmith on Sunday. She had been representing herself for several months before that.

Marcin said his client agreed to settle the case after Mirage attorneys "gave her an offer that she couldn't refuse." He said the offer included a promise not to go after her for costs involved in defending the lawsuit.

Arrowsmith, 56, left The Mirage in August 2000. She owns Arrowsmith Realty in Las Vegas.

She said another plaintiff in the case, Mary Cunningham, reached a confidential settlement last week. Cunningham, who now works as a cocktail waitress at Bellagio, could not be reached for comment.

The lawsuit stemmed from a Sept. 26, 1995, meeting that some of the plaintiffs attended with Steve Wynn, then the chairman of Mirage Resorts Inc.

During the meeting, according to the document, Wynn "advised those in attendance that he did not like the way they looked in their uniforms."

The lawsuit claimed the gathering became known as "The Fat Meeting" and that the women later became the target of scorn from co-workers and supervisors.

Arrowsmith said she attended the meeting, but Cunningham did not.

Each of the 11 cocktail waitresses filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which issued a series of "right to sue" letters.

As a result of its investigation, the EEOC filed discrimination charges on behalf of six additional women who attended Wynn's meeting.

The EEOC determined that a preponderance of evidence in the case showed the subjection of cocktail waitresses to a hostile work environment.

After the meeting with Wynn, according to the EEOC's findings, the women "were subjected to disparaging comments from co-workers and patrons."

"Evidence shows that management was aware of the comments but failed to take immediate corrective action," the findings state.

In addition, the commission found, the preponderance of evidence showed that The Mirage adopted a weight standard for its cocktail servers around October 1995 that required them to maintain their weight within 6 pounds of the amount they weighed when hired.

"The application of this weight standard to a position occupied exclusively by female employees constitutes discrimination based on sex," according to the commission.

In February 1998, The Mirage entered into a negotiated settlement agreement with the EEOC.

According to the document, The Mirage agreed:

• To rescind the weight component of its Cocktail Services Appearances Standards.

• That it would not adopt, implement or enforce any weight standards that apply solely to cocktail service employees.

• To continue to provide pregnant cocktail servers with maternity uniforms and continue to exempt all pregnant employees from any weight standards during the term of their pregnancy.

• To pay $5,000 each to any waitress who attended the meeting and signed a payment release statement.

By June 1998, two of the women named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit had signed the statement and agreed not to pursue the case. A third plaintiff had dropped out of the lawsuit.

Since then, Russell said, The Mirage has resolved the claims of all the other women involved in the case.

"There were a number of women who chose to resolve the case under the terms of the EEOC agreement," he said.

In April 2001, Senior U.S. District Judge Lloyd George dismissed all but one of the claims brought by Arrowsmith and Cunningham. All that remained in their cases was the claim that they had been subjected to a hostile work environment.