Woman claims comments about her weight and wage spoiled job interview

BAYTOWN (FOX 26) - It's a "she said, she said" case of a job interview gone wrong. A local woman claims she turned down a job offer because of questionable comments made about her weight.

22-year-old single mother Crystal Harrington from Brazoria was in the market for a second job. She's a home health aide by day and hoping to be a waitress at night. But she claims the manager who interviewed her was "out of line" with comments about her size, and how much money she might make because of it.

When Harrington interviewed for a job as a waitress at Baytown Seafood in West Columbia, she claims the manager conducting the interview said she was being "straight forward" when she said this.

"While you might have a skinny waitress do a really crappy job she's going to get the tips, whereas big girls like us, and she did say us and I don't know why because she's not my size. She's not big to me, big girls like us won't get the tip," said Harrington.

Harrington was offered the job, but turned it down.

"It was over the line. 'Did you feel discriminated against?' In a sense yes," she said.

While it doesn't appear any discrimination laws were broken according to employment law experts consulted by FOX 26, perhaps the comments were just in poor taste.

"'Is there a chance that you just said something that was maybe a little rude or unprofessional?' No, not at all," said Mary Pruett.

She's the Baytown Seafood manager who interviewed Harrington and claims the alleged comments about weight were never said at all.

"That is incorrect, what she has posted is incorrect. She was offered a job. Nothing was said about size because you have all sizes working here and I can't determine what the customer is going to give in tips," said Pruett.

"I turned it down because I did not want to work for somebody like that if you're going to be that discouraging and you going to look at me like that just because of my size I don't want to work for you," said Harrington, who is standing by her account of the story. She posted about it on social media hoping to open eyes.

"I couldn't believe a manager told me that. Just because you're overweight does not mean you can't work does not mean that you can't do the job just as well as somebody else," said Harrington.

"It hurts me as far as her to think that away because I'm not that way. And people in this town know I'm not that way when I hire people," said Pruett.