Media

Reporter Fired for Stripping Files Gender Discrimination Complaint

Reporter Sarah Tressler Fired for Stripping Files Gender Discrimination Complaint

Fired Houston Chronicle reporter Sarah Tressler has filed a gender discrimination complaint after she said she was let go for working as a stripper.

The former Houston Chronicle reporter who said she was fired for working as a stripper filed a federal gender discrimination complaint against the newspaper this week.

Sarah Tressler, 30, is asking the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to examine the Chronicle’s decision to let her go. She said an editor told her she was fired for failing to disclose her side job on her job application, MSNBC reported.

“I was very upset that I was fired because I had been told by many editors that I was doing a good job,” Tressler said in a statement. “There was no question on the form that covered my dancing. I answered the questions on the form honestly.”

Tressler, who is being represented by celebrity women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred, said she “very rarely” did stripper work once she took the job at the Chronicle. She said stripping helped pay for college, and she only went back to it for exercise.

“And I didn’t have a gym membership. So, on days off I might just go in there in the afternoon and do a couple stage rotations and knock it out,” she said during a news conference in Los Angeles Thursday.

She only worked at the Chronicle for two months before another publication ran a story uncovering her “double life” under the headline, “Writer by day, stripper by night.” During that time she covered high society, general assignments, human interest stories, men‘s and women’s fashion for the newspaper, CNN reported.

“Most exotic dancers are female, and therefore to terminate an employee because they had previously been an exotic dancer would have an adverse impact on women, since it is a female-dominated occupation,” Allred said.

The Houston Chronicle did not weigh in on Tressler’s charge, with a newspaper spokeswoman telling CNN Thursday, “We have not seen the complaint and thus cannot comment.”

Tressler said she has already found a new writing job in Houston, though declined to say where.

Comments (89)

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  • paperpushermj
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 11:29am

    I know she would be a distraction in my office. Just have one Male in the office go and see here prancing around naked on a platform and those images will spread throughout the office in a day changing forever how Men and some Women view her.

    Report Post » paperpushermj  
    • rc30
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 11:53am

      Paperpushermj then the males that can’t control them self need to be fired. Again she is at work in a office that is not her night job. If the males can’t control them self and want to be boys and not men at work. That there problem and they need to get in trouble not her.

      Report Post » rc30  
    • Doctor Nordo
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 12:58pm

      RC30,

      Texas is an at will state, so they can fire her for pretty much anything. This is not gender discrimination. Being a constant office distraction is a legitimate cause for termination and it’s a lot more time, work, and expense to fire an entire office and then hire and retrain a host of replacements than it is to fire the one bad apple and replace her.

      And this is coming from someone who is very sympathetic to strippers. Some of my best friends are strippers.

      Report Post » Doctor Nordo  
    • paperpushermj
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 1:27pm

      @rc30
      Are you out of your mind? Fired for what? How you perceive a coworker and the judgments that come from that perception affect the work place. Surely you understand there is an appropriate manor of dress or are you again saying showing a lot of cleavage and hotpants is Appropriate office wear and just something the men need to just get used to?

      Report Post » paperpushermj  
    • The-Monk
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 1:32pm

      I‘m surprised they didn’t have more office parties and invite her to perform….

      Report Post » The-Monk  
    • Forced_Union_Worker
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 3:12pm

      If it was just a matter of office politics or an inappropriate manor of dress then the paper could have handled the matter internally, but once their competitor made it a matter of public record the paper had a moral and legal obligation to protect their business. If only one subscriber canceled the paper because of this employe, then the paper had no choice but to let her go.

      Report Post » Forced_Union_Worker  
    • lukerw
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 5:13pm

      Funny… how the Mind goes Out To Lunch… when there Sexual Suggestion!

      Report Post » lukerw  
    • ReallyAUnionGuy
      Posted on May 13, 2012 at 1:46pm

      Just because a job is legal does not make it reputable. You can choose to strip, you can choose to be a porn star…..those choices have consequences…… You can not hide from your past choices….. Just another example of someone from this next generation who does not understand this, have never been held accountable for their actions or behavior…… welcome to the real world young lady…. surprise surprise its not like all your liberal friends, teachers and professors said it was….. I hope she looses and that Media whore Gloria goes back to the rock she crawled our from under.

      http://www.firefightersforfreedom.blogspot.com

      Report Post »  
    • K Chad Roberts
      Posted on May 14, 2012 at 4:25pm

      When you enter a job, you’re contracting your services. Many businesses require you to notify them of any outside work that may conflict with their business. Is it really so confusing why being a stripper may be a conflicting outside work activity?

      Report Post »  
  • IDONTTHINKSO
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 11:20am

    This is an easy one, no case, she LIED on her application!

    Report Post »  
    • rc30
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 12:07pm

      When I was young I worked at a strip bar. Watching the parking lot. Yes allot of girls are into drugs and other bad things. But a few did it just for the money. Many reasons school take care of kids or just the money. Back then you could flip burgers for $4.00 hour. Or work 4 hours a night 3 or 4 days a week and make $600.00 to $1000.00. Now think about that. As a man I could make $10.00 hour just doing labor work. Woman don’t have it as easy as a man. If you come from a very poor back ground. But some of the girls I used to work with. Did great things with the money they made. Most just went to the bottom and became drug heads. But a few went to school other went into other things. Looks like this girls liked it and did some good with it.

      Report Post » rc30  
    • mcfloyd
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 4:19pm

      Bingo. She’s toast.

      Report Post »  
    • Boson Higgs
      Posted on May 13, 2012 at 8:27pm

      She was the “Society” reporter in Houston, Texas. How many Houston ‘society’ matrons will invite her to their next fund-raising gala, or even want to be seen with her, once it is known that she is a stripper ???

      Report Post » Boson Higgs  
  • HuckleberryFriend
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 11:05am

    Because if she were male and stripping on the side, the results would have been so different? Give me a break..
    Being an employee of a company means you have been hired to represent that company. If they feel you are denigrating the company name by your off hours activity, then maybe you shouldn’t be doing that.

    Report Post » HuckleberryFriend  
    • texasnellie
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 11:37am

      Texas is a “right to work state” that is all there is to this.

      Report Post »  
  • pg3712
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 10:57am

    She admits to knowingly moonlighting in a “business” that, in her own description, discriminates against men. No case here.

    Report Post »  
  • starman70
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 10:39am

    If she didn’t let her night job affect the performance of her day job, the Chinical is out of line.

    Report Post »  
    • paperpushermj
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 1:39pm

      How could it not effect her work place?

      Report Post » paperpushermj  
    • supermansdad
      Posted on May 13, 2012 at 5:52am

      Look at the posts above yours. A: Texas is an at-will state, they can fire you for being 1 min late just 1 time; B: your employeer hired you to represent them and your action on and off the clock reflect upon the company, as such reffer to A.

      Report Post »  
  • DeltaCharlieCain
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 10:22am

    I don’t really see how this is discriminatory against women, if they have a policy against stripping than they have a policy against stripping. However, although I have no respect for Gloria Allred, I think she may have a point on the fact that she was never really asked about her second job on the application and it’s suddenly an issue. If something like this is against their policy or code of conduct they should make that clear when they’re applying for the job.

    Report Post »  
    • rc30
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 11:38am

      She did nothing wrong. Yeh she striped at night. As long as she did her day job in a good manner. Who cares what she doing after she leaves the office. Anyone who wants too say this hurts the company is full of it. I found out two of my plumbers are swingers. Because the office girl found there pics on a web site and showed me it. So I fired her one she must have wanted or was also into that crap to find it. The other reason was she was trying to dig up dirt and start trouble. What we do out side of work is up to us. Your job has no right too tell you what you can and not do after work. We all bitch about are freedoms. Then when crap like this happens you all sound like DEMS.

      I don’t care what my people do out side of work. Now if it makes it where they can’t do there job. Then yeh I will boot there ass. Tell then its not anyone problem. She did a good job. But it was a driffernt paper that bought this up. So it was a hit job too hurt the paper she worked at. Now she has to pay for it.

      Report Post » rc30  
    • paperpushermj
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 1:45pm

      rc30
      “ Who cares what she doing after she leaves the office”.
      Stop typing and read other posts on this subject and you will see that people do care what she does because it will effect her daytime workplace.

      Report Post » paperpushermj  
    • COFemale
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 2:24pm

      I am sorry every job application I’ve filled out have asked the ALL the places I worked. I had two jobs at the same time disclosed both. What is her problem? Is she expecting it to ask her specifically if she was a stripper? If so, I guess she has blonde roots under that brown hair and I would not want her working for me.

      Report Post » COFemale  
  • SIG40ONDAHIP
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 10:21am

    LOL yea Bill Clinton will hire her for sure!

    Report Post »  
  • 700P
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 10:20am

    “There was no question on the form that covered my dancing. I answered the questions on the form honestly.”

    She probably wasn’t stripping that very moment when she filled the form out

    “She only went back to it for exercise.”

    When you get a job, you usually sign a conditions of employment agreement and often they require reporting of ANY off-duty employment (your employer has a right to know if they put that in an agreement or you can also choose to NOT work there! This is the same for us in the military and people are caught working jobs that were not approved and disciplined (usually a letter in their file).

    This is so typical of liberals, they change the facts to suit their agenda “therefore to terminate an employee because they had previously been an exotic dancer would have an adverse impact on women”

    Really? Seems like the problem was she went back to dancing (as she admitted) and FAILED to disclose her part-time employment…NOBODY said anything about what she did before her employment (except Ms Allred whose job is to obfuscate and make this about something it isn’t). This is so Saul Alinsky….work is a NOT a right unless your a Socialist. The paper did nothing wrong and if she‘d been moonlighting at Dairy Queen this wouldn’t be in the news if they’d chose to fire her as well (she violated terms of employment…end of story)

    Report Post » 700P  
  • STEELGUY
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 10:06am

    I understand the concept, if you are an exotic dancer at night that it would adversely affect your day job. we have a good looking girl that doesnt dance does her job and we still have problems with small minded guys in her arena. so I definately understand not keeping that kind of liability in the company because if anything goes wrong the company will get the bad end of deal any way you look at it. To bad looks and brains don’t go together. sometimes it seems they are on opposing forces

    Report Post »  
  • cykonas
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 10:05am

    I think we should all be asking the question what was “honestly disclosed” on Ms. Tressler’s job application. If, in fact, she did disclose that she was an exotic dancer and the HC hired her with that knowledge then I think she has a valid complaint. Exotic dancing apparently is a legal activity in the jurisdiction in which she lives and works. Because some may find it repugnant isn’t a reason for her termination especially if it was disclosed at the time of her application for the job.

    Depending on exactly what questions were asked on the application and what was disclosed how can we rush to judgement? These important facts are omitted from this story. I hope the Blaze will continue to follow this as I’d like to know those answers and the final outcome.

    Report Post » cykonas  
  • BeingThere
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 9:53am

    As soon as I see Gloria Allred is her attorney, her story becomes a joke and I don’t care what happens to her. Waste of time!!!

    Report Post » BeingThere  
    • Shasta
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 1:03pm

      I agree. Somehow I missed that Gloria was her attorney when I first read this story. Once you brought that to my attention, I decided to leave this post and get out. Gloria is a pimp.

      Report Post » Shasta  
  • OneTermPresident
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 9:41am

    You’d think someone who is able to land a job as reporter with a large newspaper would have been intelligent enough to realize.. Okay, it’s time to stop stripping, I’m in the media now.

    Report Post » OneTermPresident  
    • BeingThere
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 9:54am

      I don’t know, most of these weather girls are just strippers who keep their clothes on :-)

      Report Post » BeingThere  
    • GrandmaNRichmondTX
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 10:13am

      The Houston Chronicle’s readership has been drastically shrinking. This could be some kind of ploy to up it’s sinking revenues.

      Report Post »  
  • brntout
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 9:39am

    Now ,that’s a new twist. From X Files, To XXX Files?

    Report Post »  
  • hi
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 9:38am

    I pray for Sarah that her eyes are opened and she finds Jesus. A life apart from God is hell.

    Report Post » hi  
  • term limits for congress
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 9:38am

    Discrimination? So, there are male reporters who are getting their exercise by stripping?

    Report Post »  
    • G-WHIZ
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 10:06am

      Heyyyy…When I was but a young-ladd, I was a Devry-grad with an electronics-repair digrree. I had a”day-job” building cnc-milling-and-boreing machines, and my “hobby” was repairing automotive, electrical(using all proper proceedures) and electronics-repair(tv,hifi/st.&oathers). Many times my boss,super,&/or worker-friends would give me items to fix…either at lunch, or at home. Even the owner’s-son would occasionally bring his “hifi” to work…all $$$-extra-earned beides my normal hourly-wages. One whole day, I came to work and the owner said : ” my fleetwood could be allot smoother…I spent the whole-8-hrs tuning,brakes,shocks(etc) and that friday, my pay-envelope had my normal 40hr-check+3-100$-bills(off the tax-roll) and a “thanks it’s better than when i took delivery of it.” Of couerse WE were a non-union very-small shop…14/w/owner&employees.

      Report Post »  
  • Dustoff
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 9:37am

    She said stripping helped pay for college, and she only went back to it for exercise.
    *************************************

    Right! (-:

    Report Post » Dustoff  
  • SpaceRaider
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 9:34am

    Nope, can’t exercise or take your clothes off at home…

    Report Post » SpaceRaider  
  • barber2
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 9:25am

    The Discrimination Card is ruining America. What about an employer’s right to decide just whom he wants to hire / represent his company ? So now the “ rich” and the “ owners ” no longer have individual rights ? Only the “poor,” the minorities , the workers have rights ?? This mess has gone too far. The pendulum needs to swing back .

    Report Post »  
    • db321
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 9:45am

      Would have been nice if we could watch a Video of her working at her 2nd job! So we could get a better understanding!

      Report Post » db321  
    • cykonas
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 11:12am

      The employer did make the decision to hire; she had the job. The question is did she disclose everything that she was required to disclose on the job application. If she did disclose, or if she was not asked to disclose her other jobs or sources of income, then the company does not have the right to terminate her for engaging in a (presumably as I don’t know TX law) legal activity.

      I’m no fan of the proliferation of discrimination law suits, but right is right. There isn‘t sufficient information in the story as it’s printed here to make a rational judgement one way or the other.

      Report Post » cykonas  
    • ScienceIsNotEvil
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 6:23pm

      If they fired someone for being Christian most of this site would be ablaze with anger. Funny how that works.

      Report Post »  
  • Detroit paperboy
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 9:03am

    Nobody reads the Houston chronicle anyway……..

    Report Post »  
  • TWO BITS
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 9:03am

    It seems that Ms. Tressler wasn’t working undercover. Oh well, more paperwork for overpaid bureaucrats.

    Report Post » TWO BITS  
  • Sonicanimefan2012
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 9:00am

    She outed herself on this one, at this point its safe to say that Alred is as far left as they come. So tactics such as gender discrimination are not really too surprising to me

    Report Post » Sonicanimefan2012  
  • Rashomon
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 8:47am

    Its the lefts war on the Left.

    Report Post » Rashomon  
    • Walkabout
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 9:32am

      Very nicely said.

      I was thinking she at least had honest work as a stripper compared to a reporter for the MSM.

      Report Post »  
  • burnteye86
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 8:46am

    I stopped reading after I saw Gloria Allreds name.

    Report Post » burnteye86  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 8:37am

    That may be the most confusing headline I’ve ever read.

    Report Post » Gonzo  
    • sawbuck
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 8:53am

      Gonzo.. I know right…Nothing like playing..
      “Pin the Comma” ..On the sentence…First thing in the mourning.

      Report Post » sawbuck  
    • qpwillie
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 9:01am

      LOL! I was wondering what was meant by “stripping files”. How does one strip a file and why would they get fired for it?

      Report Post » qpwillie  
    • Joanne M
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 10:26am

      I agree! There’s no missing comma, but unless you know she was a stripper, it does sound like she was stripping files. I thought she was fired for removing information.

      Report Post »  
    • rsanchez1
      Posted on May 12, 2012 at 2:12pm

      There were commas missing. The participial phrase “fired for stripping” needs commas.

      Too bad they don’t teach English in schools anymore.

      Report Post »  
  • brntout
    Posted on May 12, 2012 at 8:29am

    What? They fired a good little Dimocrat for just a little exotic dancing? How rude…

    Report Post »  
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