Facial Discrimination* and ‘Weight Bias’ gone wild.

GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump won a place in the crowded facial discrimination Hall of Shame last week. In a recent Rolling Stone article, he criticized fellow candidate Carly Fiorina’s looks as he argued why she could never be president. “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that?” Trump told the magazine. “Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?!”

Facial discrimination.

Fiorina fought her way onto the prime time stage of the 2nd debate with a stellar performance in the 1st debate.

When the moderator of the 2nd GOP Presidential debate asked Fiorina to comment on Trump’s remarks, she responded, “I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said.” She’d put Trump in his place with just a few words, proving “less is more.”  

Uncharacteristically, Trump didn’t counter punch. Instead, he blatantly reversed himself and said to the audience, “I think she’s got a beautiful face and I think she’s a beautiful woman.” 

That didn’t sit well with another candidate Rand Paul, who accused Trump of  being “sophomoric” and scolded him for criticizing people’s physical appearance. Trump shot back: “I never attacked [you on your looks] and believe me there’s plenty of subject matter right there.”
So, Trump ended the  evening, guilty of even more facial discrimination.

“Casino waitresses are effectively ‘sex objects’ and can be fired for putting on too much weight, according to a ruling last week by an Atlantic County Superior Court judge in New Jersey.

Superior Court Judge Nelson Johnson’s decision ended the legal battle between popular Atlantic City casino the Borgata and a group of 22 former cocktail servers known collectively as ‘Borgata Babes.’

The 22 Babes filed suit against the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa alleging weight discrimination, according to the Los Angeles Times. The women specifically targeted a casino policy that prohibited ‘Borgata Babes’ from gaining more than 7 percent of their original body weight.”

The Press of Atlantic City reports that in court documents, the Babes claimed that the stringent guidelines sometimes forced drastic measures. Waitresses were even told to take laxatives before to mandatory weigh-ins or stop taking prescription medications, according to the site.

Seriously?

In his ruling against the ‘Babes,’ however, Judge Johnson said the Borgata guidelines were fair, and that all women knew what they were getting into when they accepted positions in the casino’s selective program.

“The Borgata Babe program has a sufficient level of trapping and adornments to render its participants akin to ‘sex objects’ to the Borgata’s patrons,” Johnson wrote, according to the Press of Atlantic City. “Nevertheless, for the individual labeled a babe to become a sex object requires that person’s participation.”

In other words, if you sign up to be a Babe, you must abide by the rules of being a Babe, no matter how demeaning. On appeal, judges reiterated the sentiment. Judge Marie Lihotz wrote in the decision:

“We have considered plaintiffs’ claims and conclude all facial discrimination challenges to the PAS are time-barred or unsupported. We also conclude the LAD [Law Against Discrimination] does not encompass allegations of discrimination based on weight, appearance, or sex appeal.”

Time notes that  only Michigan prohibits workplace discrimination based on height or weight.

“[The Borgata Babes decision was] a horrible ruling,” Michigan-based disability rights attorney Richard Bernstein told Time. “You have to look at the far-reaching applications of it. You always have to look at a decision with a broad brush. That decision gives employers a tremendous power over people in the workplace.”