St. Peters Hooters Lawsuit Making National Headlines

A dispute between a St. Peters Hooters waitress and the restaurant she works at has made national headlines. 

Sandra Lupo, 27, is suing Hooters in federal court alleging she was fired from her job after brain surgery left her with a buzz cut and a visible healing scar that made it too painful to wear a wig.

That's according to ABC News. The story has also appeared on The Huffington Post, CNBC, Business Insider and Aol Jobs among other Internet outlets. 

According to The Huffington Post, Lupo waitressed at a Hooters in St. Peters, Mo., when she shaved her head in July 2012 so that a doctor could perform a craniotomy to remove a large mass on her brain, the lawsuit alleges.

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As she prepared to return to work after the surgery, a Hooters regional manager allegedly told Lupo that she would have to wear a wig.

Lupo complied with her manager's request, but found the wig irritated her head wound. The court documents say she was "forced to leave work because she could not wear the wig." Hooters then allegedly cut her hours to the point where she felt she had to quit, according to the complaint.

Hooters spokesman Scott Yates emailed HuffPost on Monday to say that the company denies accusations made by Lupo and her attorney, Larry Bagsby, and "believes the lawsuit is without foundation."

According to CNBC, Hooters' April 5 filing does not address whether any of its employees told Lupo to wear a wig. It says that her manager "informed her she would need a head covering."

The lawsuit, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, says that the restaurant violated Missouri’s Human Rights Act by discriminating against someone with both an actual and perceived disability. It also claims a violation of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, alleging that Hooters regularly uses a reduction in hours to force out employees. Lupo seeks unspecified financial damages.