from www.ocregister.com - A well-known feminist organization has filed a complaint with Orange County officials, alleging two local Hooters restaurants exposed children to sexual entertainment.
Hooters executives called NOW’s complaint "ridiculous" and a "waste of taxpayer money."
On Thursday, the California chapter of the National Organization for Women sent a letter to District Attorney Tony Rackauckas saying Hooters restaurants don't comply with state and local laws that regulate sexual entertainment. NOW said Hooters should have an age requirement, much the same way strip clubs can only legally admit patrons 18 and older.
"On a typical evening, Hooters, Inc. serves children younger than 18 years of age and offers child menus, high chairs and booster seats," the letter says. "They also display and sell products of prurient nature, including T-shirts in child sizes with statements such as 'Future Hooters Girl.'"
Representatives of the Orange County District Attorney's Office did not say whether prosecutors would investigate Hooters.
“Hooters Girls are sexy and vivacious.” said Mike McNeil, the vice president of marketing for Hooters of America.
“These complaints are merely last gasp efforts by an organization that lost this battle decades ago. It is time for NOW to accept the fact that the public likes Hooters and there is really nothing they can do about it. Hooters is no more in violation of California’s adult entertainment codes than the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition is. However guys can’t do that job either.”
McNeil’s statement said publicity from NOW’s efforts have actually increased sales during the past day.
Hooters is a restaurant chain known for waitresses clad in tight tank tops and short shorts. The backs of the shirts sport a slogan: "Delightfully tacky, yet unrefined."
Hooters says it has 455 restaurants in 44 states in the U.S. and 28 countries worldwide. The company's website also says a third of its managers and corporate staff are women. The business promotes itself as family-friendly.
The letter specifies the Hooters locations in Anaheim and Costa Mesa. It omitted the newest Orange County location, in Lake Forest.
That's because one of the NOW's local members volunteered to visit the restaurants herself, and only went to the Anaheim and Costa Mesa locations.
"Members physically went and brought their children to see the children's menu and the items sold," said Patricia Bellasalma, president of NOW's California chapter. "They took them to see whether they would serve them"
Bellasalma said the group targeted Hooters restaurants because they offer "sexual entertainment," but choose to have locations near popular tourist spots or in shopping malls. Other adult businesses, Bellasalma said, wouldn't escape the attention of authorities if they served children. NOW is making similar complaints in San Francisco, Sacramento and San Mateo counties.
T.J. McCullough of Fresno and Chad Wotring of Trona visited the Hooters in Anaheim on Thursday afternoon. Both said they disagreed with NOW's position.
McCullough said he didn't consider Hooters to be an adult business.
"Just because they wear shorts and tank tops? It's Southern California," he said. "Everyone wears that."
"They're not catering to children," Wotring said. "They don't have a ball pit" or other indoor playground equipment, he said.
NOW plans to ask state Attorney General Jerry Brown to conduct his own investigation.
