Page 7 - IAV Digital Magazine #569

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
City To Pay $500K To Settle Bikini Barista Dress Code Suit
EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — A legal battle over a dress code for bikini baristas at coffee stands is ending after a city north of Seattle agreed to pay $500,000 to the owner and employees who sued over it six years ago.
The Everett City Council voted unanimously this week to authorize Mayor Cassie Franklin to sign
the settlement agreement with Jovanna Edge and employees, The Daily
Herald reported. Plaintiffs had been seeking more than $3 mil- lion in damages and attorney fees.
Under the agree- ment, the city will keep most of its rules for proba- tionary licensing of coffee stands and other quick- service business but will no longer
dictate that baris- tas wear at least tank tops and shorts.
Instead the city will align dress code rules with an existing lewd conduct standard that makes it a crime to publicly expose too much of one’s private parts. Another provision man- dates that busi- ness owners post materials for employees with information on
how to seek help if they are being trafficked or oth- erwise exploited.
“I am glad we’re for the baristas and against the people who are trying to get them to do things they don’t want to do,” City Council member Liz Vogeli said after the vote.
The settlement may end the saga that started in 2009 when the city said it received com- plaints prompting investigations that revealed some stands were sell- ing sex shows and sex acts and allowing cus- tomers to physi- cally touch the baristas. Four people were arrested and prosecuted.
In 2013 two espresso stand owners were arrested on accu- sations of promot- ing prostitution and exploitation of a minor, as well as a Snohomish County sheriff’s
sergeant for tip- ping off baristas about undercover officers in exchange for sex- ual favors. The sergeant resigned, and the owners were con- victed.
The city in 2017 created the dress code ordinance requiring employ- ees, owners and operators of “quick service facilities” from coffee stands to fast-food restau- rants to wear clothing that cov- ers the upper and lower body or face fines.
Edge, the owner of Everett bikini barista stand Hillbilly Hotties, and employees Natalie Bjerke, Matteson Hernandez, Leah Humphrey, Amelia Powell and Liberty Ziska filed a legal com- plaint arguing that the ordinance vio- lated their First Amendment rights.
“Some countries make you wear lots of clothing
because of their religious beliefs,” Hernandez wrote. “But America is different because you can wear what you want to wear. I wear what I’m comfortable with and others can wear what they are comfort- able with.”
The case has seen various rul- ings in the courts, but in October a U.S. District Court judge found
the dress code ordinance uncon- stitutional.
Ramerman told the council the city could appeal but a defeat would lead to a much higher tab than the $500,000. The city has spent nearly $400,000 defending the ordinance.
The settlement “still gives us our best tool to require stand owners to make sure their employ- ees are not engaging in illegal conduct,” the city attorney said.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine