Requesting Photo in Job Application

[iebie]

I was perusing a well-known job board and saw a listing for a Server position for a music venue in CA. The posting went on to describe the position and requirements (all pretty standard), and then at the very bottom stated the following:

PLEASE SEND A PICTURE OF YOUR SELF FOR ANY POSITION YOU ARE INTERESTED IN, IF YOU DO NOT SEND ONE YOU WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

I was under the impression this was only allowed if you're involved directly in the entertainment industry (such as, say, acting), but is this actually illegal ... or merely highly unseemly?

Personally, I'm not even involved in the food industry, but living in an entertainment-related city, I do tend to see postings like this a lot. I'd love to know what the legal specifics regarding this sort of thing is.

[cbg]

It's very stupid, because it could easily give rise to an age, racial or gender discrimination claim. But it is not prohibited by law.

BTW, while the answer above is correct for US law, in some countries a picture is mandatory with job applications. I've had foreign-born applicants send me a picture because they don't realize things are different here. It's not outside the realm of possibility that the ownership or managership of this venue is a foreign national who is following the requirements of his/her own country.

[iebie]

Hmmm... interesting....

Although, I doubt this is just someone who doesn't know better, merely for the fact that the ad stated that you wouldn't even be considered without a picture. If you had previously lived in a country where sending in a picture was automatically mandatory, you wouldn't have to tell everyone up front that you won't consider them for the job without it. Obviously this person knows that Americans don't generally do this sort of thing. It's also pretty obvious they're only looking for attractive people (according to whatever personal standards they have), being that it's a club environment.

Just for fun, had they specifically requested, say, just women, would that be illegal then? Could they make the claim that the Servers themselves are kind of part of the entertainment itself? I mean, does Hooters hire men as servers?

I've also seen a couple ads before for administrative positions, specifically requesting women, without giving any plausible explanation as to why. Scary.

Honestly, though, it really creeps me out when I see these things. And I'm really hoping no one is actually applying for these jobs; especially your classic new-in-town, poor young naive just-turned-18 kind of gal.

[cbg]

I don't know enough about the position to say if women-only could be a BFOQ (Bona Fide Occupational Qualification).

[iebie]

Good grief, I'm just theorizing here.