FILE – A barista at a Grab-N-Go Bikini Hut espresso stand holds money as she waves to a customer, Feb. 2, 2010, in Snohomish County, just outside the city limits of Everett, Wash. A legal battle over a dress code for bikini baristas at coffee stands ended Wednesday, April 5, 2023, after Everett, a city north of Seattle, agreed to pay $500,000 to the owner and employees who sued over it six years ago. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
The long-brewing saga of bikini-clad baristas slinging coffee for drive-thru customers has finally come to an end.
The city of Everett, Washington, has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the owner and employees of Hillbilly Hotties, a quick-stop coffee shop featuring drinks served by women wearing bikinis. They had sued over the city’s 2017 ordinance that required employees of “quick service facilities” — including so-called bikini coffee bars — to wear uniforms that covered the upper and lower body.
The city agreed to settle for $500,000, according to Deputy City Attorney Ramsey Ramerman. The plaintiffs had been seeking $3 million.
The coffee bar plaintiffs argued that the ordinance violated their free speech and equal protection rights. A federal district court initially agreed, ordering an injunction that blocked enforcement of the law. In 2019, however, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit overturned that injunction. The plaintiffs had indicated that they would appeal.
Ramerman explained the settlement at an April 5 city council meeting, saying that it “still gives us our best tool to require stand owners to make sure their employees are not engaging in illegal conduct.”
He said that the purpose of the ordinance was to protect potentially vulnerable baristas from predatory coffee bar owners, citing the results of the city’s 2013 investigation into “dozens upon dozens of citizens’ complaints” over the behavior that had cropped up around — and apparently within — the coffee bars.
The investigation revealed that in addition to coffee, some shops were selling “sex shows” and allowing customers to have physical contact with baristas. Men were found “masturbating near the stands,” Ramerman said. It was discovered that in one case, a coffee stand owner was encouraging this conduct because he was selling the baristas oxycontin and wanted to keep his buyers flush with cash. That owner was never prosecuted because he disappeared as it appeared he might face criminal charges, and later turned up dead, Ramerman said.
The investigation also determined that at least two stand owners pressured baristas to engage in the illegal conduct, underpaying them and forcing them to try to get more tips from lewd customers, Ramerman said, adding that there were also many instances of sexual assault. One coffee bar owner had pressured a 16-year-old to “participate,” Ramerman said.
The investigation revealed that a sheriff’s deputy was being paid off in order to keep the illegal conduct quiet. That sheriff’s deputy was ultimately convicted, as were two coffee stand owners: one for promoting prostitution, and one for sexually exploiting a minor.
Ramerman said that none of the plaintiffs in the Hillbilly Hotties lawsuit had been accused of any such crimes.
More from Law&Crime: Bikini-Clad Barista Heroically Fends Off Alleged Attempted Rapist
The seven-member city council voted unanimously to approve the $500,000 settlement on Wednesday.
Ramerman said that while he believed the city would win its case on appeal — which itself would be an “expensive” undertaking requiring an assessment of damages — it wasn’t guaranteed. Losing the lawsuit could expose the city to the plaintiffs’ $3 million demand.
City council members did not object, and at least two expressed explicit approval for the settlement.
“I’m glad we’re for the baristas and against the people trying to get them to do the things they don’t want to do,” said Councilwoman Liz Vogeli, who also said she was “thrilled” about the extra level of protection for the coffee bar employees.
Councilman Ben Zarlingo echoed that sentiment, acknowledging that pursuing the appeal may only result in a “Pyrrhic victory” in which the costs would potentially outweigh the benefits.
“I am satisfied that the city entered […] this whole process as a way to protect vulnerable people and as a way to protect and support our community members at or near this stand, and to civilize this to the degree that we can,” Zarlingo said.
Mayor Franklin issued a statement praising the terms of the settlement agreement, according to the local news website the Daily Herald.
“This has always been about protecting the best interest of our community and preventing exploitation,” Franklin said in the statement. “The amendments to the ordinance we are agreeing to enact will provide us with a new tool for addressing issues at individual stands while also providing support to employees that are being coerced or exploited in any way.”
You can watch the video of the Everett City Council meeting here.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
