Bikini Barista Lawsuit Settled With ‘Hillbilly Hotties’ For $500K

A six-year legal battle over employee attire at an R-rated coffee stand located in a Seattle suburb is finally over after the city of Everett, Washington voted unanimously last week in favor of a $500,000 payment to the owner and several employees.

As part of the agreement, the city will retain most of its rules for probationary licensing of coffee stands and other quick- service businesses, but will no longer be able to dictate that baristas must don a minimum of tank tops and shorts. Instead, the city will adopt new dress code rules that comport with an existing lewd conduct standard that makes it a crime to publicly expose ‘too much’ of one’s private parts.

Another provision will require that business owners post visible signs for employees on how to seek help if they’re being human trafficked.

While the current lawsuit is six years in the making, the story starts in 2009, when Everett officials said they received complaints that some stands were selling sex shows, sex acts, and allowing customers to grope baristas. This led to four arrests and prosecutions.

Then in 2013, the owners of two espresso stands were arrested on accusations that they promoted prostitution and exploited a minor. A Snohomish County sheriff’s sergeant was also arrested for tipping off baristas about undercover cops looking for sexual favors.

In 2017, the city sought to hobble the stands’ draw by implementing a dress code ordinance requiring that owners and operators of such “quick service facilities” wear clothing that covers both the upper and lower portions of their bodies.

Jovanna Edge, owner of the “Hillbilly Hotties” bikini barista stand sued the city, along with employees Natalie Bjerke, Matteson Hernandez, Leah Humphrey, Amelia Powell and Liberty Ziska, who argued that the ordinance violated their First Amendment rights.

“Some countries make you wear lots of clothing because of their religious beliefs,” wrote Hernandez. “But America is different because you can wear what you want to wear. I wear what I’m comfortable with and others can wear what they are comfortable with.”

While the case has been working its way through various courts, in October, a US District Court judge sided with the plaintiffs, finding the ordinance unconstitutional.

While Edge and her employees sought $3 million, they settled for $500,000.

As far as Everett officials are concerned, the settlement “still gives us our best tool to require stand owners to make sure their employees are not engaging in illegal conduct.”

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