Seven bikini baristas are suing the city of Everett, Washington for trying to regulate what quick serve establishment employees can wear. Pictured above is a waitress at the Grab-N-Go Bikini Hut in the city
Seven bikini baristas and the owner of a chain of their coffee stands is suing the the city of Everett, Washington, over its strict new dress code.
The Everett City Council enacted two ordinances unanimously on August 16 banning bare midriffs, exposes shoulders, shorts or bikinis in quick-serve food and beverage businesses.
Employers must cover ‘minimum body areas’ while on duty which includes the torso and the top three inches of legs below the butt, according to the ordinance.
The lawsuit filed by the cafe workers claims two recently passed ordinances banning bare skin violate their right to free expression.
The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Seattle on Monday, says the ordinances passed by the Everett City Council deny bikini-stand employees the ability to communicate through swimwear, are vague and confusing, and unlawfully target women.
‘Just like Starbucks with green aprons, UPS with brown trucks and outfits, and Hooter’s with short-orange shorts, the baristas’ attire evokes a message at work,’ the lawsuit says, adding that such messages include ‘freedom, empowerment, openness, acceptance, approachability, vulnerability and individuality.’
The Everett City Council enacted two ordinances unanimously on August 16 banning bare midriffs, exposes shoulders, shorts or bikinis in quick-serve food and beverage businesses
Employers must cover ‘minimum body areas’ while on duty which includes the torso and the top three inches of legs below the butt, according to the ordinance
‘This is not about the bikini,’ said attorney Schuyler Lifschultz to The Seattle Times.
‘It’s about women’s rights and the U.S. Constitution. The City of Everett violated these women’s rights across the board.’
Additionally, the city is prepared to provide pictures diagrams to help show the new requirements. Owners in violation will be required to get a probationary license and two more mean possible shutdown.
‘The Ordinances, on their face violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution; are unconstitutionally vague, as applied and in violation of the due process guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment,’ said lawyer’s of the baristas iin a statement on Monday.
‘The Ordinances, on their face violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution; are unconstitutionally vague, as applied and in violation of the due process guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment,’ said lawyer’s of the baristas iin a statement on Monday
‘The ordinances also deprive the Baristas of their Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights and discriminate against women.’
‘The city knows only women work as bikini baristas, and intentionally targeted women through the ordinances,’ said Derek Newman, one of the attorneys for the baristas.
But according to assistant city attorney Ramset Ramerman, the ordinance has nothing to do with bikinis.
“This is not about being offended by people wearing bikinis,” he said.
“Some of these stands had the characteristics of a poorly run strip club, and trying to enforce standards under the previous law was simply ineffective.”
Owners in violation will be required to get a probationary license and two more mean possible shutdown
The city cited ‘a proliferation of crimes of a sexual nature occurring at bikini barista stands throughout the city’ in adopting the measures.
‘Employees and owners of barista stands where this conduct occurs are making large sums of money from overtly sexual, lewd conduct, and prostitution,’ the city declared in one of the measures.
Everett officials have been trying to regulate the bikini clad women for years. In 2009, several employees of local coffee stands were arrested for indecent exposure and prostitution.
Baristas allegedly had charged $80 for erotic shows where they allowed customers to fondle and take pictures of them.
Lawsuit claims that the limitations are vague and confusing and unlawfully target women
‘To properly enforce the citywide ordinance, a police officer must determine the location of the ‘top of a woman’s areola,’ which can only be seen by exposing the breast,’ the complaint says. ‘This would subject women to humiliating and offensive searches’
Some cities have banned the ‘sexpressos’ completely.
The city did not immediately return an email seeking comment Monday.
Among the allegations in the lawsuit is that the laws’ definitions of what skin must be covered up are confusing. The dress code for baristas refers to the ‘upper and lower body,’ stomach, and back below the shoulder blades, among other areas.
‘The length of a common woman’s shirt is often short enough that stretching or bending would reveal part of her back or stomach,’ the lawsuit says.
The other measure bans ‘an exposure of more than one-half of the part of the female breast located below the top of the areola.’
‘To properly enforce the citywide ordinance, a police officer must determine the location of the ‘top of a woman’s areola,’ which can only be seen by exposing the breast,’ the complaint says.
‘This would subject women to humiliating and offensive searches.’