Lewis V. Heartland Inns of America

The legal issues noted in Lewis v. Heartland Inns of America is that Cullinan made it clear that she only wanted employees he thought were pretty enough. Cullinan also told Lewis that she would have to have a second interview, even though the other employees were never required to do so, even after she had already worked in the position for a month. Cullinan was responsible for personnel decisions and reported directly to the general manager of Heartland, Kristi Nosbich. The court decided that Lewis had presented enough information to enable a prima facie case on her claims of sexual discrimination. There was also enough information to prove that Heartland’s reason for firing Lewis was under a false pretense.

The evidence of sex stereotyping in this case is when Cullinan and Nosbich decided it necessary to install cameras so they could preview potential employees before accepting their application, to ensure they met a certain level of attractiveness. Secondly when Cullinan wanted Lewis taken away from the front-desk position during A shift because “she dressed like Ellen DeGeneres and lacked the Midwestern girl look.” Cullinan advises a hotel manager to not hire an applicant because she “was not pretty enough”. Lastly, Lewis had an excellent work record with no disciplinary action. “Sex plus” refers to practices or policies that an employer uses to classify employees on the foundation of sex in addition to another characteristic, such as age or race. I would say this has grounds to be a sex-plus case with comments such as “…dressed like Ellen DeGeneres”, and “lacked the Midwestern girl look.”

In Chief Judge Loken's dissent where he comments that, “Apparently, the majority would hold that an employer violates Title VII if it declines to hire a female cheerleader because she is not pretty enough, or a male fashion model because he Is not handsome enough, unless the employer proves the affirmative defense that physical

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