Jespersen v. Harrah's Operation Company, Inc. 

Background

The plaintiff, Darlene Jespersen, worked as a bartender at Harrah's Casino in Reno, Nevada for

approximately twenty years before being fired for her refusal to comply with a company grooming policy requiring all female beverage servers to wear make-up.  Throughout Ms. Jespersen's tenure, Harrah's maintained a policy of encouraging its female servers to wear make-up; however, this policy had remained informal until February 2001, when Harrah's instituted a "Beverage Department Image Transformation" program.  Such program consisted of new grooming standards, referred to as the "Personal Best" program.  The "Personal Best" program placed requirements on employees relating to their dress, hair, and nails.  Some aspects of the program, notably the uniform requirement, applied equally to both sexes, while other requirements were sex-differentiated, creating different standards, for men and women.  In April of 2001, Ms. Jespersen objected to an amendment made to the "Personal Best" program which specifically required women wear make-up.  

In relevant part, the amended policy required beverage service personnel, to be "well groomed

appealing to the eye, be firm and body toned." The policy then listed certain rules applicable to men and women:

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