Buffalo Wild Wings refused to hire woman who wore long skirts in Georgia, feds say
A woman who wears longer skirts because of her religious beliefs was denied a job at a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in Georgia, where managers had an issue with her faith influencing what she wore, according to federal officials.
Now, Buffalo Wild Wings’ operator, BWW Resources LLC, will pay $47,500 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency said in an Aug. 26 news release.
Buffalo Wild Wings and attorneys representing the business did not immediately return McClatchy News’ requests for comment Aug. 27.
The EEOC sued the business last year over the refusal to hire the woman as a server in Douglasville, according to the EEOC’s lawsuit, which says her daughter worked there as a server.
The daughter brought her mother to Buffalo Wild Wings’ Douglasville location for a “Friendsgiving” event in November 2022, the lawsuit says. Douglasville is about a 20-mile drive west from Atlanta.
While there, her daughter introduced her to the general manager and explained her mother was interested in working as a server, adding that she had previous experience, according to a complaint filed by the EEOC on Aug. 13, 2024.
“During the same conversation, (the woman) and her daughter told the General Manager that, pursuant to her religious beliefs, (she) was required to wear a long skirt in public, including the workplace,” the complaint says.
The woman has sincerely held Pentecostal Christian beliefs and practices the religion of Free Holiness, the complaint notes.
Because of her faith, she “wears ankle-length or below-the-knee length skirts,” according to the EEOC.
The general manager told the woman that Buffalo Wild Wings was hiring and “encouraged” her to apply, adding that she could wear long skirts if she got the job, the complaint says.
But then, the manager mocked her religion, according to the EEOC.
“At the end of the conversation,” the complaint says “the General Manager asked whether (the woman) was Pentecostal, raised her hands, exclaimed ‘Na, na, na!’ in a mocking tone, and then exited the conversation.”
After the woman formally applied for a serving position, she did not hear back, according to the EEOC.
When her daughter later asked an assistant manager about her mother’s application, “the assistant manager stated that the general manager would not hire (the woman) because of her religious needs,” the complaint says.
The assistant manager also suggested it would be strange for Buffalo Wild Wings servers to wear long skirts, according to the EEOC.
“What sports bar have you seen that had servers wearing skirts?” the assistant manager asked the woman’s daughter, according to the lawsuit.
Afterward, the general manager confirmed to the woman’s daughter that she would not hire her mother, the complaint says.
Within two months of her applying, the EEOC said five servers were hired at the Douglasville restaurant.
“Job applicants have the right to pursue employment without fear of compromising their religious practices, so long as those practices do not cause an undue hardship on prospective employers,” Darrell Graham, the director of the EEOC’s Atlanta office, said in a statement.
A two-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit requires Buffalo Wild Wings’ operator, BWW Resources LLC, to “provide monetary relief” to the woman, in addition to training its managers, supervisors and HR employees at the Douglasville restaurant, the EEOC said. The location also has to post a notice about the settlement and discrimination.
As part of the settlement, Buffalo Wild Wings must report to the EEOC when job applicants request religious accommodations and when employees report religious discrimination or retaliation, according to the agency.
This story was originally published August 27, 2025 at 2:50 PM.
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