Twin Peaks restaurant servers say they were forced to wear lingerie, ranked by looks

Originally published on April 27, 2018.

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Daryll Rodriguez, 24, says she had her confidence stripped away during the year she waited tables at a Hooters-style restaurant in suburban Chicago. 

"It's really taken a toll on my self-esteem," she told As It Happens host Carol Off. 

"I started viewing myself in a negative way. Whenever I would look at myself in the mirror, I would really think, 'Oh my God, I am fat. I am fat.' I knew I wasn't, but then again, I would look in the mirror and see something else."

Rodriguez and her former co-worker Sarah Blaylock, 24, have filed complaints against the Twin Peaks restaurant chain with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces U.S. federal workplace discrimination laws.

They say they were harassed, demeaned, forced to wear skimpy lingerie that was not part of the chain's mandated uniforms, ranked on their appearance and punished if their bodies were not deemed up to snuff. 

A third woman, 19-year-old Jessica Mercer, has made similar allegations, but was unable to file an EEOC charge because she exceeded the 300-day statute of limitations. 

Former busboy Kenneth Biggers, 31, has also filed a complaint alleging he was harassed and discriminated against for being gay.

The allegations have not been proven in court. As It Happens has reached out to Twin Peaks for comment. 

In an e-mail to the Chicago Tribune, Twin Peaks CEO Joe Hummel called the allegations "baseless."

The EEOC does not comment on pending matters. 

Lined up and graded

The Dallas-based restaurant chain — sometimes colloquially referred to as a "breastaurant" — has 81 locations across the U.S. and describes itself on its website as a lumberjack-themed "lodge full of friendly and attentive Twin Peaks Girls."

Rodriguez said she knew what kind of restaurant she was signing up to work for when she started serving at Twin Peaks in Orland Park, Ill., in 2016, to help pay the bills while she attended college.

She was OK with the uniform of a tight tank top, high boots and short khakis, she said.

"Six months in, everything changed," she said.

"You need to wear more makeup. Your hair needs to be more done. You need to show more skin."

The shorts got much shorter, she said, and the tank top became a belly top. 

The women allege managers would line the servers up in the kitchen at the start of their shifts rank them on their hair, makeup and bodies.

"There were times when managers would even say stuff about your body," Rodriguez said.

"They would say that they're fat. They would, like, pinch their love handles. It was just very degrading and it was done in front of everybody."

Punishments for not looking sexy enough 

The highest ranked servers were awarded with better sections of the restaurants, Rodriguez said.

Lower-ranked severs would be punished by being assigned less busy sections where they would earn fewer tips, Rodriguez said.

"I remember one time I was really low on the grading scale and I opened, I did a double ... and then I also closed," she said.

"I thought I could go home because I worked a double, but they said, 'No, because of your ranking you have to stay and close.' It was ridiculous."

Forced to wear lingerie

The women also allege that they were forced to wear bikinis or revealing lingerie, which were not part of the restaurant's official uniform, for holidays and special events.

Rodriguez said the first time she was asked to wear lingerie to work was on Black Friday.

"We had to wear all black lingerie," she said. "I didn't want to do it ... but they said if you didn't show up for your shift, you're fired."

When the servers were dressed up for Valentines Day, Rodriguez said police officers issued citations for indecent exposure to the restaurant and four of its servers. 

Baylock was one of those servers.

She alleges in her complaint that she found out a year later that she had been found liable and the company paid her $100 fine.

Nobody informed her she could appeal the charge, she said.

In her complaint, she said she was "criminalized for following Twin Peaks' orders to dress like a stripper."

"This conviction is now permanently on my record," she wrote. 

"I am a nursing student and fear this will adversely affect my ability to get a job. 

'Systemic abuse of young women'

"Twin Peaks is engaging in disgusting, systemic abuse of young women across the country,"  Tamara Holder, the attorney representing the women, said in press release emailed to As It Happens.

"Many of the young women are still in high school, others are trying to pay college tuition. They signed up to work at a 'family-friendly' restaurant, not a strip joint."

• Restaurant dress codes: Tips for women wanting to fight back
• Sexy outfits for female staff may be discriminatory

Rodriguez said she's telling her story in hopes that it will empower other restaurant workers to speak up.

"It's not OK to be abused in the workplace," she said. "That's your livelihood."

Written by Sheena Goodyear. Interview with Daryll Rodriguez produced by Katie Geleff.