US waitresses allegedly fired for being fat sue restaurant for £8m

A New York restaurant is being sued for $15m (£8m) by two waitresses who say they were fired because they were too fat, according to newspaper reports.

The lawsuit filed against the Sutton Place restaurant and bar claims that Kristen McRedmond and Alexandria Lipton were asked to disclose and record their weight, and were subjected to sexual harassment before they were fired in July, reports the Guardian.

McRedmond and Lipton claim their weights were recorded on a computer spreadsheet and the results put on to a website so they could be compared with the weights of waitresses in other restaurants. McRedmond also alleges another employee tried to forcibly put her on the scales in the manager’s office and other waitresses had also been weighed in the office.

However, Joel Simon, the restaurant’s lawyer, was quoted by the New York Post as calling the women's allegations "a nice piece of fiction".

The lawsuit alleges McRedmond and Lipton were called names, subjected to sexually offensive comments and unwanted fondling, and required to wear tight clothes.