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Gender Equality in Hotels and Restaurants

admin | Feb 11, 2011 | 0 Comments

Continuing progress toward gender equality brings well-deserved honors at high-profile hospitality chains while old beliefs and stereotypes
continue to show up in employment litigation.

In 2008 Renate Rivelli, benefits manager at the iconic Brown Palace Hotel and a single mother of two, was told a co-worker was being
promoted to assistant director of HR. She filed a gender discrimination complaint against her employer. The complaint attracted the notice
of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the EEOC took the case on as its own. Its lawsuit against the employer, a Texas-based
management company took Rivelli’s claims public last summer. By December 2010 the employer and the EEOC settled and Rivelli was awarded
$105,000 in damages.

Earlier in 2010 Richard Knight, an employee of the Baton Rouge Sheraton hotel was vindicated in another EEOC gender discrimination action. The
settlement forced the hotel to rehire Knight at another property and to compensate him for wage losses. The hotel also agreed to a three-year consent
decree during which time its HR activities will be closely monitored.

Assumptions and Stereotypes

What triggered these lawsuits? Richard Knight’s complaint was triggered by a male supervisor allegedly showing greater deference to a female
employee in a disciplinary hearing for an infraction identical to Knight’s, while Renate Rivelli was allegedly the victim of unlawful assumptions
based on a long-disproved stereotype: women with children cannot devote adequate time to employment.

In settling Ms. Rivelli’s case the EEOC’s regional attorney Mary Jo O’Neill had this warning for employers: “Making assumptions about a woman’s
ability to perform a job which are not grounded in fact, but instead on stereotyped assumptions about her inability to work long hours due to her child
care responsibilities, is unlawful discrimination.”

In January 2011 two cocktail servers at New York City’s trendy Standard Hotel were fired. READTheir lawyerPOST:
PREVIOUS believes their situation is also gender
discrimination: the attorney alleges the servers don’t fit the “willowy physique”, the “type” that the Standard
New Worldallegedly prefers,
Haikou will expandand thatpresence
China their for
discharge occurred despite the employees’ strong work performance. A lawsuit has been filed. New World Hotels

Discrimination Roots Run Deep New World Haikou Hotel, opening 2014 in Hainan's
fast-growing Haikou area, will be a 350-room, multi-
storey deluxe hotel on Haikou...

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1/18/2020 Gender Equality in Hotels and Restaurants :

Gender discrimination is hardly new. A University of Massachusetts report in 2010 described what was once considered the legitimate disparate
treatment of women as recently as the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, saying that historically it has been assumed that “women ideally belong in
the private world of home and family and that men belong in the public domains of paid employment and politics.”

The university’s study underscores the resiliency of negative assumptions and stereotypes. An early view of men and women’s roles in society, author
Heidi Berggren stated, was that the two sexes should evolve in “’separate spheres’, creating an atmosphere of discrimination that functioned
powerfully … keeping women in their place”.

Restaurants and hotels and restaurants have long struggled with the issue. As recently as the 1970s hospitality industry and trade unions maintained
separate union locals and hiring halls for men and women. In large urban hotels unions and employers negotiated separate wage rates and working
conditions for housekeepers and “hallmen” ; the hallmen — who as the job title implied were always men — maintained a hotel lobby’s restroom
while housekeepers or maids — all women — cleaned toilets and made beds in a guest room. Until gender-segregated union locals were abolished
separate wage and working conditions applied to banquet servers as well while in the travel industry airline flight attendants, many of whom were
nurses, were forced to resign if they chose to marry or no longer fit into their uniforms.

Pursuit of Brand “Image” Can Cause Problems

Today some employers are accused of keeping alive the double standard — one policy for men and a stricter one for women — all in the name of
promoting a brand image. For example, the two women in the Standard case are being victimized, says their attorney, because they no longer fit an
image the hotel allegedly wants to portray, that of attractive, slim women serving cocktails.

The image that employers project and that employees must promote has long proven both a lure and a problem. Hooters, the bar/restaurant chain with
over 450 locations, is popular with men at lunch and after work but its popularity has also been a cause for concern at times among job-seekers and
employees, with lawsuits challenging an alleged women-only policy for food servers and issues relating to uniforms and alleged weight restrictions.
On the positive, less reported side is Hooters outreach for breast cancer awareness; last year the company donated $250,000 to the program. When
Hooters CEO Coby Brooks appeared on the television reality series Undercover Boss he learned that some of his Hooters servers held themselves in
low esteem. The result: “Orange Pride”, a website Brooks established to publicize Hooters community outreach and the contributions of its “Hooters
girls”.

Managers “Doing Their Own Thing”

An employer’s brand image can also be damaged by supervisors and even higher-level managers who despite their training are determined to shape a
company policy to fit their needs, either ignoring the advice of human resources or creating new standards they enforce without a supervisor’s
approval. A lack of care in selecting supervisors can make the problem worse.
READ PREVIOUS POST:
Veteran attorney Carolyn Richmond, labor/employment partner at Fox Rothschild LLP and a member of the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research
advisory board, cautioned employers in a 2007 Forbes article entitled “Are You Courting Discrimination?” About
New World eateries
Haikou who insist
will expand Chinaon maintaining
presence for
Newlitigation
gender-focused hiring standards she warned, “Restaurateurs are playing a risky game”. The continuing World Hotels
in this area would seem to bear out
Richmond’s comments, even three years later. New World Haikou Hotel, opening 2014 in Hainan's
The Equality Prescription: Industry Support, Leadership, Unwavering Focus fast-growing Haikou area, will be a 350-room, multi-
storey deluxe hotel on Haikou...

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The good news, despite lawsuits that generate publicity and adverse public opinion, is that industry-sponsored organizations continue to promote
opportunities for women in leadership roles while serving as resources for education on the expanding role of women in business.

The Women’s Foodservice Forum has promoted partnerships in the foodservice industry for over two decades; its annual Leadership Development
Conference will be held in April. WFF’s “Leadership Award”, inaugurated in 1994 to honor Deborah Smithart, former chief financial officer for
Brinker International, celebrates successful women throughout restaurants, foodservice manufacturing and allied services.

The Women in Lodging Executive Council, launched in 2005 by the American Hotel & Lodging Association, includes senior executives such as
Fairmont’s SVP Human Resources, Carolyn Clark; Brooke Barrett, Co-CEO of Denihan Hospitality Group, and; Niki Leondakis, COO of Kimpton
Hotels among others.

Leadership Key: Don’t Give Up

High-profile companies in the hospitality industry are being recognized for highlighting gender equality and other diversity issues.

The key, says one hospitality CEO, is to not give up, to keep moving forward in favor of gender equality. George Chavel’s efforts earned foodservice
giant Sodexo the #1 spot on Diversity Inc.’s 2010 Top 50 Companies for Diversity list. According to the magazine Sodexo “is at the forefront of
creative ways to examine the ROI of diversity initiatives.”

Sodexo was also honored by the National Restaurant Association in 2010 with the NRA’s Faces of Diversity award, which was presented by NRA’s
respected CEO Dawn Sweeney.

Four other leading hospitality brands appeared on Diversity’s 2010 top employer list: at #7-Marriott International ; #19-Starwood Hotels & Resorts;
#24-MGM Mirage, and; #33-Walt Disney.

Marriott: Diversity heaped praise on CEO Bill Marriott, calling him “forthright and deeply inclusive” and noting the company has “increasingly
made visible” its diversity programs.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts: At Starwood CEO Fritz van Paasschen “personally signs off on” executive bonuses; 20% of senior management’s
incentive compensation is directly tied to diversity initiatives.

MGM Mirage: MGM launched “diversity roundtables” in 2010. Diversity reported that after one session CEO Jim Murren pledged his diversity
efforts would never end: “As long as I have breath in my body … diversity will remain a core priority,” he said.

Walt Disney: Disney, who also ranked #8 on the Diversity list of companies for Latinos, keeps increasing its diversity commitments, Diversity
noted. Robert Iger, the giant hotel and entertainment company’s CEO, described his companyREADefforts saying
PREVIOUS POST:simply, “Diversity is part of the fabric of
everything we do … New World Haikou will expand China presence for
New World Hotels
Steps to Gender Equality: Getting Started
New World Haikou Hotel, opening 2014 in Hainan's
fast-growing
Progress begins with a candid self-assessment. What are your gender equality and overall diversity Haikou
needs? area,
Other will
steps to be a 350-room,
consider multi-
include:
storey deluxe hotel on Haikou...

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1/18/2020 Gender Equality in Hotels and Restaurants :

Gain senior management’s commitment to highlight gender equality and other diversity issues
Look at last year’s EEO-1 report to see where women and minorities are under-represented in your workforce
Review all existing salaries as well as overall compensation and benefit programs for equity
While setting a realistic one-year goal to begin the process of correcting an imbalance, consider which non-traditional leadership roles could be
held by women
Place capable women alongside their male counterparts in key strategy roles such as operations, marketing, human resources and finance
Ask your labor/employment lawyer to suggest changes to policies and practices to avoid claims and litigation concerning gender and other
diversity issues
Expand both internal and external outreach so that recruitment draws from all segments of the community. Offer rewards to employees for
ideas on developing an inclusive, mentoring culture that values everyone’s contribution regardless of gender or culture. Solicit ideas from other
stakeholders including guests, bankers, union and community leadership

Weave “Equality Thinking” and Flexibility into Decisions Affecting Employees

Weaving “equality thinking” into decisions affecting employees requires patience and persistence. It is easier when it is practiced regularly. Our view
is that the process is also dynamic by nature, constantly evolving. Therefore a goal you set today may no longer be appropriate or represent your best
efforts even six months from now . Flexibility is necessary so that goals match the reality of your hospitality organization’s progress in other areas.

Once an organization’s efforts bear results more people who yearn for equality will seek out the natural reward of working at a hotel, restaurant or
foodservice establishment, club, casino or cruise line where promises are kept and each person is treated equally and fairly.

For assistance in developing a winning diversity program contact Hospitality HR Solutions

Sources: US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Time Magazine, Diversity Inc., University of Massachusetts, 5280.com, The Wall Street
Journal, American Hotel and Lodging Association, Women’s Foodservice Forum, National Restaurant Association

HT Editor

Filed Under: HR

Tags: HR • HTMi READ PREVIOUS POST:

New World Haikou will expand China presence for

New World Hotels
New World Haikou Hotel, opening 2014 in Hainan's
fast-growing Haikou area, will be a 350-room, multi-
storey deluxe hotel on Haikou...
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New World Haikou will expand China presence for

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fast-growing Haikou area, will be a 350-room, multi-
storey deluxe hotel on Haikou...

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