‘Plus-Sized’ College Student Claims Discrimination at Bar

By Olivia Katrandjian
Apr 28, 2012 6:34pm
‘Plus-Sized’ College Student Claims Discrimination at Bar





A self-described “plus sized” college student who was told she was “obviously pregnant” and “not pretty enough” to dance on a platform in a bar in Iowa is claiming she was discriminated against by the bar’s bouncers.

Jordan Ramos, a 21-year-old University of Iowa student said she went to Union Bar in Iowa City, Iowa with her friends on March 3. She said she tried to get onto a platform where several of her friends were dancing, but was stopped by the bouncer, who said they were at capacity.

Ramos said she waited until a few girls left, and again tried to go up. She was stopped again, which she said prompted her to ask, “What is the difference between the other girls up there and myself?”

“There was only one difference: I am a plus-sized individual. The bouncer said ‘Look, you will never get up on this platform. Go back to the dance floor where you belong,’” Ramos told ABC News.

Ramos said a friend of hers tried to talk to the manager, but he refused to talk to her. The manager told them to leave, Ramos said. She sent the manager an email, which she says was never answered.

A social work professor at the University of Iowa told Ramos to return to the bar.

“She told my friends and I to go back and see if the same thing happens and to try to get them to say aloud ‘I am not allowing you up because of your size,’” Ramos said.

On April 14, Ramos returned to the Union Bar with a group of friends. Ramos’ friends, who she said are all thin, were able to get up on the platform easily. But Ramos was blocked from entering, she said.

Ramos asked the bouncer repeatedly why she could not dance on the platform.

“He said, ‘You’re not pretty enough and you’re pregnant.’ I said, ‘I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that I am not pregnant.’ He then looked at my stomach and said, ‘You obviously are.’ They knew I was not pregnant; it was there way of calling me fat without having to actually say it,” Ramos said.

Ramos approached the Human Rights Commission in Iowa City, but the organization told her they could not do an investigation because size discrimination is not illegal by law, Ramos said.

Union Bar did not immediately return a call for comment from ABC News.

Ramos approached the Human Rights Commission in Iowa City, but the organization told her they could not do an investigation because size discrimination is not illegal by law.