More Prom Mortification: Boo Hoo My Boobs Are Too Big For This Dress

The parents of 25 teenagers in New Orleans are still fuming after their daughters were turned away from entering the prom because their attire was too revealing. The parents are arguing that only those who were well endowed were barred; the smaller-chested were allowed in which constitutes discrimination. And while the gut reaction of many is, “poor me, I’m young and attractive and strutting my stuff and I was discriminated against,” it does raise some legal questions: namely, can the school have a dress code at an off-site prom, and is it discrimination if only the big chested are barred?

Schools are not only allowed to create dress codes for even extracurricular activities, they are well advised to do so. Obviously in the New Orleans case the dress code was too vaguely worded and therefore left people confused about the prohibition on clothing that is too tightly fitting. If you are in doubt, ask for clarification before spending the money on an inappropriate dress. And while being turned away was unfortunate, the fact that clothes that would not be tight fitting on the smaller chested are inappropriate for those better endowed, it is not discrimination when only the big chested are ahem “busted.”

Stood Up On Prom Night

A teenager in Marleton, New Jersey who was invited to the prom, bought a new dress, had her makeup done, and got a manicure in anticipation of the big day that never came: her date called at the last minute to say he was sick—of her, as it turns out—he actually went to the prom with someone else. Her mother called the louse’s mother and threatened to sue if the boy didn’t pay for the unused dress and unseen makeup. Can you really sue if your prom date stands you up?

An invitation to a prom isn’t a contract per se—the invitation isn’t “I will take you if you buy a new dress” such that once you’ve bought the dress he’s obligated to take you to the prom. But even without a contract, you can still sue someone if he made a promise to you and you reasonably relied on that promise to your detriment “gee, I can’t wear this old thing—I better go buy a dress.” Still, the thing about high school is that the last thing you really want to advertise is how popular you aren’t. Your best bet is not to sue but to chalk this up to one of childhood’s painful memories and hold your head high when you return, resplendent, to the now fat, bald, ex prom date at you 10th year reunion.

Here's a Tip on Tip Pooling (a.k.a. Starbucks is Screwed)

The Superior Court of California just assessed an $86 million fine on Starbucks—not because it’s a pretentious multinational that charges four bucks for some flavored water, but because of the way it practiced tip pooling. If you are planning to get a job as a waiter for the summer or for your career, you want to know: what is tip pooling and is it legal?
Tip pooling, also known as tip sharing or tipping out, is a practice whereby a waiter is required to share some of his tips with other employees who customarily receive tips, like bartenders. It is legal under the Fair Labor Standards Act for waiters to be required to do so, within certain parameters. First, when you add the tips you keep plus your salary you must be getting at least the minimum wage. Management cannot force waiters to share tips with those who don’t customarily receive them, such as dishwashers—or management which was the basis of the Starbuck’s lawsuit in which waiters were forced to pool their tips with shift supervisors. So while you will not be making $86 million from the Starbucks lawsuit, you may at least get to keep a bigger part of your own tips.

As college acceptances roll in many parents consider sending the kids off with an emergency credit card. They are often surprised later that while their definition of “emergency” includes the words “life endangering” their kid’s include the words, “low price on new releases.” And so you begin to wonder—are parents legally responsible for the debts of their kids?

Parents are almost always responsible financially for the debts incurred by their minor children. For college age kids who have reached the age of maturity, where parents have an established credit card account and add their kid as a permissive user, they are responsible for the charges he racked up. Where an adult child applies for his own credit card and the parents are not co-signors, debts he accrues are his own responsibility. Stored value cards may be a compromise, since they look like credit cards but are actually a prepaid account and once the money is spent, it’s gone. For the first 18 years, they were your responsibility—now make sure their financial mistakes are their own responsibility.

Spoiled Sport

This past season a 16-year-old boy in a hockey league in Ottawa punched a referee. The referee did what was to be expected. He filed a lawsuit. Well, first he fell to the ground with a concussion, then he sued. But he didn’t just sue the 16-year-old, he sued the kid’s coach, who’d been a volunteer for the league for the past ten years. As spring and summer leagues are forming, if you are thinking of coaching your kid’s league, what should you do to insulate yourself from liability?

In this day and age, you can’t really find anything that someone can’t figure out a way to sue over. You should ABSOLUTELY not let that stop you from coaching, but you should take precautions. First, ask parents to sign a waiver, which can be as simple as a line that says: I understand that there are risks associated with any sport and I hereby agree to assume the risk of injury on behalf of myself and my child.” Also, look at safety issues. Inspect the field before you play for dangers. Implement procedures like keeping kids away from a swinging bat to prevent injuries—and perhaps most importantly, teach them good sportsmanship to prevent them from swinging a fist at others.

(Ed: This post was actually written by Amy, the smarter but less technically capable sister.)