By Jess McCabe | 13 June 2005, 16:01

With tales of Wal-mart woe in the papers every couple of weeks, no-one could say that worker’s rights in the United States are perfect. And this story from USAToday has some real horror stories of employers cracking down on their employees behaviour during their free time, from people getting fired for displaying a political bumper sticker, to getting the sack for drinking a competitor’s beer.

But this one takes the biscuit:

“At the Atlantic City, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, bartenders and waitresses can be fired if they gain more than 7% of their body weight. They are first given a 90-day unpaid suspension to lose the weight. Officials say it is a recent clarification to the company’s appearance policy.”

You’ll be glad to know that the 200 cocktail servers and bartenders the policy apply to, called ‘Borgata Babes’, do not have to adhere to the policy if they have gained weight for a ‘legitimate’ medical reason such as pregnancy. However, they still have to loose the weight again within 90 days of returning to work.

So what did the company spokesperson, Michael Facenda, have to say? “We believe the policy in place is not only legal and non-discriminatory, it is also fair.”

Yep, completely delusional. The article doesn’t say what the rest of the company’s ‘appearance policy’ consists of, but from the picture in the article, it’s not hard to guess.