Not Selling the Abaya

Should waitress wear skimpy outfits and act all flirty with men?
One restaurant chain thinks so. Hooters is going to absurd and insulting lengths to patronize backward habits of the west by forcing its female waitresses to dress and behave in a stereotype of subservient Western women. When waitress Lana Assam stood up to the policy, she was fired.
Hooters employees were informed of the policy previously. In addition to wearing the traditional skin tight top and shorts, the policy stated that, "it is expected that female act in a way that entices our core demograph, males 18-30 to cum for more then the food."
To Miss Assam this was outrageous. "I am a proud Saudi woman and I don't want to be demeaned in this way," she told us in an exclusive interview. "I'm a Muslim, and I'm proud to be Saudi." Miss Assam hastened to add that this was not a clash of civilizations but a labor dispute over a sexually discriminatory policy. "This is not a political statement or promotion of one belief over another," she said. "We're living in the 21st century here. Any woman told to be open with men will be outraged, don't you think?"
Miss Assam union representative told her the top & shorts were considered "an item of uniform" and that refusal to wear it should be treated as "a potential disciplinary matter." Miss Assam went to great lengths to avoid coming into conflict with the policy. She asked not to be scheduled to go to the dinning area, but that would remove her from all money making areas, which effectively would cut her salary by a third. When her time finally came to serve, she refused, and was suspended.
Ten months of what Miss Assam refers to as "administrative bullying" ensued before she was dismissed in April 2008. "I started standing up for myself," she said, "and I don't think they liked it." She appealed her case but a labor tribunal accepted Hooters argument that the chain introduced the requirements "entirely from the need to conform to local customs, practices and law in the west."
Hooters should help usher the west into the modern age by setting an example of equality and tolerance rather than pandering to discriminatory practices.

Link to the story