Transgender woman sues Hooters for discrimination over claim company 'refused to hire her'

A transgender woman is suing for discrimination, claiming that the company repeatedly refused to hire her due to her appearance and gender identity.

Brandy Livingston has been a regular at the branch on Wolf Road in Colonie, a suburb of Albany in , so much so that she opened to work at the restaurant one day. However, after her recent transition, the customer claims she is not respected as a woman, with staff using male pronouns.

She also alleged that workers at the restaurant her for using the toilet, claiming that one of the servers asked the manager: "Why are you allowing him in the women's restroom?" According to Brandy, the manager allegedly replied: "Oh, I don't like it any more than you do."

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Speaking to , Brandy said she decided to sue Hooters "for sex-based discrimination, on the basis of accommodation and on the basis of employment." She filed the claim with the New York State Division of Human Rights, which said it found evidence that her rights may have been violated under he state's anti-discrimination laws and called a hearing for September 2025.

Talking to the American TV station about her experience, Brandy said she applied for employment at the restaurant three times - but was rejected. She explained: "I said, do you want to see my experience or anything? Because I had previous jobs I had written down."

But she claimed that she was told: "Oh, we don't care about experience. We hire on the basis of personality. And there's an image that needs to be met." But despite the claims and the lawsuit, News10 reported that lawyers for Hooters hit back, saying they had asked Brandy not to return to the restaurant after allegedly making sexually explicit comments to waitresses before her transition - which the customer denies.

Hooters also claimed that Brandy had threatened "to go to a gun range for practice for the next time you came to the restaurant." However, she told the outlet: "That I never said anything about. My mom would take me to the gun range and for clay pigeon shooting, trap. I feel like one of the servers might have overheard what me and my dad were talking about and misunderstood what we were talking about."

Addressing the Human Rights hearing, which is due to take place next year, Brandy's mother Adelle said: "It's a very slow system. I think that's why more people don't stand up for their rights."

Brandy said she didn't sue Hooters for money, but said she would like an apology from the company. But she added: "I'm never going to get that." Meanwhile, the New York Post reported that Brandy's complaint sparked protests outside the restaurant, with a small group of people carrying colourful, homemade signs reading "sex-based discrimination is wrong" and "trans women are women".

The has contacted Hooters for comment.