Twenty-year-old Cassie Smith works at a Hooters in suburban Detroit, Michigan. On the surface, Smith fits the bill of a Hooters girl waitress with her long legs, model-like figure and a bright smile.
She even recently received an upbeat, two-year review from the company.
However, her local bosses and two women from corporate headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia then changed their tune.
The managers said her shorts and shirt size could use improvement, implying that Smith was getting heavy and needed to lose weight. In fact, the brass said Smith had 30 days to improve her shorts and shirt size or face dismissal.
The request, though, wasn't all heartless. Smith said the company offered her a free gym membership and, if she made progress in 30-days, they'd give her 30 more days to lose more weight.
Nonetheless, Smith said she was felt devastated by the threats and "humiliated."
"If I could have gone back to not work there for two years to take back that feeling, I would do it," Smith said.
Managers at her store in Roseville, Michigan said little when approached by a Detroit television news crew for comment. Instead, they referred all inquiries about Smith to corporate headquarters in Atlanta.
Smith believes she is the victim of weight discrimination. For the record, Smith is five feet eight inches tall and weighs just over 130 pounds.
Smith said she's actually 10-pounds lighter than when she first hired by Hooters two years ago.
