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Cited: Daily News

A girl who is a former “Hooters” girl says she has the right assets, but the wrong accent.  This busty beauty says a Times Square Jingle joint refused to hire her for being too ‘ghetto’.  She says “I didn’t have the ‘white’ stuff.”  She is now suing the Hawaiian Tropic Zone for not allowing her to accomplish her dream by working as one of its bikini-clad beauties.

Melody Morales said she was rejected for a job by a manager at the Times Square restaurant who griped, “You don’t speak white” and “you are ghetto.”  The 21-year-old Latina lovely is the latest woman to sue over working conditions at the Hawaiian Tropic Zone, where employees in skimpy beachwear parade nightly before diners.

“Not to brag, but I look good in a bikini,” Morales said yesterday. “I could have done a perfect job there.”

The suit says Morales went with her mother to the restaurant last March in search of a job. It claims a manager told her to get lost, saying, “I am not going to ruin my business with your Latin accent.”  Morales, who said her dream job is to pour drinks while strutting her stuff in a bikini, returned to the Hawaiian Tropic Zone months later still in pursuit of a position.  Her suits says another manager instantly rejected her, telling her, “We will not hire you because you have a speech problem,” and “You have a Latin accent.”

“It is 100% illegal to discriminate because of where you’re from or because you have an accent,” said her lawyer, Derek Smith. “Melody certainly has the assets for this job.”

Morales, who sports an ample 34-D cup size, said she was appalled.  “They never even looked at me in a bikini,” she whimpered.

A lawyer for the Riese Organization, which operates the Hawaiian Tropic Zone, said the suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, is “without merit.”

“We are proud of the many Latino and Latina employees in our diverse workforce,” said James Rosenzweig.  The restaurant that bills itself as “The Hottest Place on Earth” is facing a $600 million federal lawsuit from four former female workers accusing an ex-boss of sickening sexual antics.

“I believe everything they’re saying,” Morales said.  Morales, who is of mixed Dominican and Puerto Rican background, works at a bikini bar in Westchester County.

“It was kind of like my dream to work at the [Hawaiian Tropic Zone],” she said. “It’s the bikini, I guess.”

The restaurant is spread across three floors and 16,000 square feet. It features a two-story waterfall, a setting that “tantalizes the senses” and menu items such as hung barbecue ribs and crispy chicken lollipops.

On its Web site, the restaurant features pictures of several of its sexy staff, which include a go-go dancer from Russia, a hostess from Nigeria and a bartender from Puerto Rico.  But Morales said the place has no room for someone with her accent.

“I guess they want their girls to speak white,” she said.

UPDATE

Is Melody Morales ‘ too ghetto’ for Hawaiian Tropic Zone? Judge will let the jury decide and the Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Edward Lehner green lighted the discrimination lawsuit by Melody Morales, who charged that she was denied her dream job because she didn’t “speak white.”

A luscious Latina who sued the Hawaiian Tropic Zone will leave it to a jury to decide whether she’s “too ghetto” to sling drinks in a bikini at the infamous eatery.

“I don’t think accent should play any role in service at a restaurant where the waitresses serve drinks and meals in bikinis,” said Derek Smith, a lawyer for the top-heavy former Hooters girl.

Morales, 22, filed the lawsuit against the Times Square restaurant in January after she was twice rejected for a job by managers who did not much care for her “Latin accent.”

“They’re going to see that she speaks very well,” Smith said. “And I intend to depose all of the waitresses who work there because I am interested to see how well they speak.”

Lawyers for the recently reopened Hawaiian Tropic Zone had tried to have Morales’ suit tossed – and they strongly hinted that she was a hooker after her photos appeared on what they called “very filthy” Web sites.

Smith insisted that Morales is no call girl – merely a busty beauty who fantasized about working in a skimpy swimsuit. Morales has boasted that she would have done a “perfect job” because of her ample assets that look good in a bikini.

James Rosenzweig, a lawyer for the Hawaiian Tropic Zone, declined to comment.  The restaurant in the past has touted its “diverse workforce,” saying 40% of its workers are Hispanic.

“It’s apparent that the real reason that a person would go to the Hawaiian Tropic Zone is similar to why someone would go to Hooters,” he said.

It is obvious why patrons go to the restaurant and it is not to listen to the lovely way to speak.  It is to look at the lovelies and sexy swimsuits and to admire them according to Smith.

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My Take: When I first read the original article, I could not believe that somebody would team soon or speech discrimination.  However, I suppose it is possible that I did not think it be possible for an accent.  The scenario I could see it being involved in is for someone who is deaf who has learned to speak without hearing.  They sound as if they do have a speech impediment, but that is not a reason to discriminate against them.

I definitely agree with this young woman on getting a NYC discrimination lawyer.  Any time that an employer discriminates against employee or even a potential employee, they should be brought to the mat for it.  Then they should contact the NYC attorney for employee rights to get what is due them.  Otherwise, that same employer could do the same thing to somebody else, which is not right.

I hope that this young lady wins her lawsuit, especially after they tried to frame her by saying that she was a hooker.  As far as I have been able to find out, there is no evidence of that and it definitely leaves them open for defamation of character lawsuit.  She might get pretty darn close to the millions she is suing for.

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