ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — When Kathryn Felici was told that she and other cocktail waitresses at Resorts Casino Hotel were to pose for photos in skimpy new flapper costumes, she thought it was to evaluate the sexy black outfits to make sure they fit and looked right.
What the women didn’t know, she said, was that the photo shoot would determine which of them would still have jobs when the 10-minute encounter was over.
Felici, who had been with Resorts since the day it opened in 1978 and was twice named employee of the month, was one of 15 cocktail waitresses fired last month from Resorts.
The stated reason, they say, was for “violating uniform standards.” The real reason, they suspect, is that management wanted to get rid of older women who were judged not sexy enough to fit in with the new image the casino is trying to project.
Seven of the fired waitresses are suing Resorts, claiming age and sex discrimination. The others, including Felici, are considering legal action.
“It was very degrading to women,” said Felici, 53. “I feel they never gave me a chance. We had no idea that photo shoot was fighting for our jobs.”
Resorts said it gave each employee a fair evaluation and said the costumes are an integral part of its rebranding effort. The casino has adopted a roaring ’20s theme after the popularity of the hit HBO series “Boardwalk Empire,” based on Prohibition-era Atlantic City’s reputation as the vice capital of the East Coast.
“A critical aspect of theming is the new costumes front-line employees will be wearing, including the new cocktail server costume,” Resorts spokeswoman Courtney Birmingham said. “This particular cocktail server costume was chosen as part of the larger plan to unveil the new Resorts Casino Hotel as a destination for fun, excitement and a one-of-a-kind experience.”
The costumes include short, skin-revealing black dresses with deep open backs. Waitresses also wear fishnet stockings and ornate Jazz Age hats.
“All cocktail servers were given individual consideration and the selection process was conducted in a fair and objective manner,” Birmingham said. “We empathize with the cocktail servers who lost their jobs and gave them hiring preference in other open positions at Resorts. Some took advantage of this offer and some did not.”
Attorney Kevin Costello, who represents seven of the laid-off servers, said the firings came about after Dennis Gomes, the casino’s co-owner, was in a baccarat pit one night and saw a waitress he considered overweight serving drinks to gamblers.
“It was deeply humiliating for these friendly, capable, experienced cocktail servers, many of whom support families, to be judged not on how well they do their job, how friendly they are and how good they are with drink orders, but on how old they look and what shape they are,” he said. “This is not 1955. A good cocktail server should be allowed to do the job at any age and any shape as long as they’re good at it.”