Hooters caught photoshopping photos of waitress as chain under fire over pay and uniforms

Texas woman says she was ‘confused’ because she was allowed to wear the jewellery at work

Restaurant chain Hooters has been accused of photoshopping-away a waitresses’s belly button piercing, amid mounting criticism of the uniform worn by “Hooters Girls”.

The waitress, who identified herself as Sandra on TikTok, shared the photoshopped image of her wearing a uniform for Hooters, which a restaurant Waco, Texas, has shared to its Instagram on Wednesday.

Sandra said “WacoHooters” had photoshopped-away her belly button piercing from the image shared on its Instagram, with the piercing usually visible at work.

“Why they photoshopped my belly button,” the waitress wrote on TikTok. She added that she did not actually mind the edit, but “thought it was funny”.

TikTok users reasoned that Hooters had photoshopped her image because of its policy on piercings, with a user writing: “I think it’s because you’re not supposed to have piercings when you work there”.

Sandra responded to a TikTok user by saying that she has been“confused” because piercings were allowed at Hooters, where waitresses — called “Hooters Girls” — wear short shorts and low cut tops.

Another TikTok user wrote: “At least they didn’t photoshop you skinnier because that’s definitely what I thought was going on.”

Last week, Hooters was forced to back-track on uniform changes that would have asked waitresses to wear even shorter short-shorts, which a waitress compared to “undies” in a viral TikTok video.

The waitress, @sick.abt.it, held up the new shorts and compared them to the current Hooters uniform to show how revealing the item of clothing would be.

She also wrote: “Love my job but don’t love wearing undies to work.”

Hooters told Insider on Sunday that “Hooters Girls” would be allowed to choose between the old and new uniform based on their “body style and personal image” and which style of shorts they wished to wear.

Another Hooters waitress, meanwhile, last month accused her employer of relying on “Hooters Girls” to be the “main attraction” but of failing to pay a “fair” hourly wage that reflected her work.

The TikTok user, Rose, reasoned that Hooters had an annual profit of $500m “but the girls, who are your main attraction make $2.13 an hour and rely on tips”.

Sandra’s TikTok video has had almost 3 million views, and Hooters has been approached for comment by The Independent.