Texas Roadhouse is known for its affordable steaks and friendly, cowboy-centric atmosphere. Image is everything for chain restaurant establishments, especially when wrangling hungry customers to sit down and dine. Maintaining a restaurant’s reputation is a combined effort from staff members at all levels, and employees in front-of-house positions make the first impression. Unfortunately, Texas Roadhouse made a poor impression due to alleged discriminatory hiring practices in these roles from around 2007 to 2014.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against Texas Roadhouse for violation of civil rights under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act. This diversity, equity, and inclusion act bans businesses from age-discriminatory hiring and employment practices against people who are aged 40 years or older. The EEOC claimed that Texas Roadhouse displayed a trend of rejecting older applicants for front-of-house positions, with data indicating that the age and position of employees weren’t random.
Texas Roadhouse fought these claims and decided to avoid years of continued legal headaches by settling for $12 million to be distributed to the people who were affected by these employment practices. The company implemented strategies to be more inclusive of the 40-plus crowd, and there haven’t been any complaints of this proportion since. After all, it wouldn’t make sense for a restaurant with a section dedicated to Willie Nelson to discriminate just because an applicant is older.
The Texas Roadhouse lawsuit highlights an unfortunate bias
Ageism in the workplace is common, and its consequences can lead to missed career opportunities and negative mental health outcomes. This restaurant industry red flag may look like employers refusing to hire older staff for hosting, bartending, and managerial positions. The reasons behind age bias, whether conscious or unconscious, are often rooted in misogynistic and ableist attitudes.
One piece of evidence the EEOC brought forth in the lawsuit against Texas Roadhouse was an internal document shared among multiple managers that depicted a heavier-set woman in a wedding dress as a “non-ideal employee,” with a younger, skinnier woman depicted as the “ideal employee.” Other documents brought forth statements from managers not wanting an “old chick” applicant. The Texas Roadhouse fiasco represents some unappetizing trends in the restaurant world, showing that there are age-related issues not only in employment but also in customer bias.
Texas Roadhouse has a largely Gen X and Baby Boomer customer base with a median household income upwards of $80,000 (via Business Insider). Most restaurants, including Texas Roadhouse, have predominantly young, white, female staff in front-of-house positions. Servers and hostesses deemed as “attractive” by customers tend to earn more in tips than their counterparts, and younger white women are often the biggest recipients. Tipping culture also happens to be a way for some restaurants to save money on labor costs. Getting older is a fact of life for everyone, so treat restaurant waitstaff with kindness and leave a tip, regardless of their physical appearance.
