Restaurants & Bars
Bloomfield Restaurant Pays $1K Fine For ‘Males Only’ Hiring Sign
A manager at the restaurant said the sign read "Males Only" because part of the job involved lifting heavy boxes and unloading shipments.
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — A Bloomfield restaurant has agreed to pay a $1,000 penalty and retrain its staff after it posted a help wanted sign that asked for “males only,” authorities said.
On Tuesday, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced that NY Gyro King Inc., a restaurant located at 588A Bloomfield Avenue in Bloomfield, has agreed to a settlement with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR).
In April, NY Gyro King posted a help wanted sign that specified it was seeking “Males Only.” The sign prompted a flurry of criticism and complaints on social media, and was taken down and replaced with a gender-neutral version after a few days.
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A manager at the restaurant later said the sign was posted because part of the job involved lifting heavy boxes and unloading shipments, prosecutors said.
“We have nothing against ladies,” a staff member told NorthJersey.com. “We're not sexist or anything like that.”
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NY Gyro King has agreed to pay a $1,000 penalty, train its managers and staff on the Law Against Discrimination (LAD), and adopt a written anti-discrimination policy that includes information about how to file a complaint with DCR, prosecutors said.
“Employers cannot base employment decisions on generalizations about what men or women are interested in or capable of,” DCR Director Rachel Wainer Apter said. “All New Jersey residents must be able to pursue their own talents and passions without artificial limits imposed by gender stereotyping.”
Grewal said that except for a “relatively few” circumstances in which gender is a bona fide occupational qualification for a job, employers have a duty to extend “equal opportunity” in the recruiting process, the job application process and the hiring process.
“When they fail to do so, we will hold them accountable,” Grewal said.
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