Hawaiian Tropic Zone Accused of Discriminatory Hiring Policy

21-year-old Melody Morales says her "dream job" of working at Hawaiian Tropic Zone was crushed by managers who refused to give her a shot because of her Latin roots. So Morales, who grew up on the Upper West Side, is following the lead of a multi-million dollar class action lawsuit against the Times Square theme restaurant, which is being sued by employees who accuse corporate brass of covering up a manager's repeated sexual abuse. Morales says her many attempts to get work at HTZ were finally shot down by managers who told her, "We will not hire you because you have a 'speech problem.' You have a Latin accent. You don't speak white. You are ghetto." Her lawyer wants $130,000 a year for every year she might have worked there, plus punitive damages. Morales, who the Post reports has been "reduced to working in a bikini bar in upstate Ossining," tells the tabloid, "I'm five-foot-six. I'm slim and slender. I got boobs. Ok? I was perfect for the job."

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By John Del Signore in News on January 28, 2009 2:56 PM

Comments [rss]

chris lee

We've gotten to the place where "discrimination" itself is considered a bad word. It is not. The issue is "arbitrary" discrimination. I don't CARE if my heart surgeon is a woman. but I DO care if she graduated Med School.

NannyState

Quite big tits.

el GRINGO

...she got boobs or she is a boob!?!?!?! I don't know, but maybe something got lost in translation.Welcome to America where you can make it on your looks(or in this case,the lack of)& not on your command of the "native" language. In this case "Spanglish". We are doomed!

Clarice City

Sorry honey, we here at Hawiian Tropic only hire people with fake orange tans, your authentic pigmentation won't fit in around here.

Clarice City

Give the girl the damn job! Hawiian Tropic: you're the pot calling the kettle black.

breaknight

She's hot. Trashy looking. But hot.

Pull My Finger

8========D

Future Taliban

What are the chances that such an obviously innocent and pure young child will EVER be able to overcome the stigma and psychological damage produced by this callous rejection?

Hopefully she'll be back on her knees in no time.

freddynyc

Is it rude to insist on mouthwash first...?

Amanda Harletsch

LI accent might be consider ghetto accent by some.

Spirit of 76

I don't get it. If she was born and raised in the US, how can she have a "Latin accent"? Besides, a fake Latin accent worked out fine for Charo. The manager's right. Customers can accept a Latin accent, but not ghettospeak.

Huggies Supreme

I don't remember her having an accent... But this was eight years ago. Then again, how does one "acquire" an accent in a few years time?

Huggies Supreme

Holy shit, I went to school with that chick! o_0

Damn I could've had that...

rdsizzle

you probably still can

eflash

who knew these waitresses make $130k / year!

and i worried about how much i was tipping...

billybob

Traffic down? Ad revenues down?

Post daily bikini shots, follow the lead of so many other sites gothamist!

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

boobies sell

TrannyMatty

Nobody can get close to the whole Pamela Anderson stripper trash glam, specially when not being arian!

Such abuse!

pissyrabbit

wait.

Isn't this the club with the d-bag who is being accused of raping a woman who worked for them?

I can't be bothered to go back and look up the story.

sorry.

Also, that place is a fucking trash heap. It looks like Gray's Papaya without the class.