Twin Peaks 'breastaurant' in Orland Park
When Sarah Blaylock joined the staff of Twin Peaks in Orland Park, she signed an agreement that laid out the expectations for a "Twin Peaks Girl."
She said she understood that the lodge-themed restaurant chain wanted its all-female waitstaff to be physically fit and well-groomed. She said she felt comfortable wearing the uniform provided: a tight T-shirt that showed some cleavage and a narrow strip of midriff below her belly button, plus a pair of short khaki shorts and knee-high mountain boots.
"Times are changing, and women aren’t putting up with this." — Tamara Holder, attorney
But about six months after the restaurant’s April 2016 grand opening, the environment changed, Blaylock and other former workers allege in charges filed against Twin Peaks with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In a new pre-shift regimen, the women were lined up, graded on the tautness of their bodies and those with higher scores got to serve the best sections of the restaurant, the charges assert. On certain occasions, the workers allege, they were required to wear lingerie and bikinis, which one Valentine’s Day weekend resulted in police issuing Blaylock and other servers citations for indecent exposure.
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The Chicago Sun-Times recognized Tamara Holder as “One of 50 people Who Make Chicago a Better Place.” Holder focuses her legal work on governor’s pardons, clemency, commutation of sentence, as well as workplace abuse, including sexual harassment and discrimination. She devoted countless hours of public service in Chicago’s most poverty-stricken neighborhoods, as well as obtaining a congressional hearing on improper employment practices. For over a decade, Holder has successfully helped her clients seek clemency and governors’ pardons from Illinois Governors Rauner, Quinn, and Blagojevich. She also seeks pardons and clemency for clients in other states. In 2005, she founded xpunged.com, a website providing legal advice to thousands seeking to expunge and seal their criminal records, including dismissed arrests, and both misdemeanor and felony convictions. Now, the Founder of The Pardon Group, Tamara Holder continues to help her clients receive governors’ pardons, clemency, and commutation of sentence.
The Chicago Sun-Times recognized Tamara Holder as “One of 50 people Who Make Chicago a Better Place.” Holder focuses her legal work on labor rights including workplace abuse, sexual harassment and discrimination, as well as governors’ pardons, clemency, and commutation of sentence. Holder obtained a Congressional hearing before the Committee on Homeland Security on the issue of improper employment practices. She also testified as an expert witness on wrongful termination before the Congressional Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Holder herself is a survivor of workplace abuse - sexual assault. Determined to empower other victims of abuse, Holder shared her story through The New York Times despite being told she would forever be labeled as “toxic” for speaking out. Within only a matter of months of this story, Holder helped a young woman settle a sexual harassment claim against an executive at a major restaurant chain. Through Holder’s legal work, her client obtained nearly 10 times the original amount offered.
