Fines for sexual discrimination of Barcelona Open models
Organisers from the Barcelona Open tennis tournament have been accused of sexual discrimination, with fines handed down.
Following complaints from promotional models at the the event last May, Schweppes, the company that hired the models, and Tote Vignau, the model agency, are facing fines up to $287,000.
Models at the event were forced to wear short-sleeved shirts and mini skirts, despite the temperature dropping below 10 degrees Celsius at various times throughout the tournament.
As everyone else at the event rugged up to counter the harsh conditions, models were forced to remain standing court-side with no appropriate clothing, while occasionally holding umbrellas out for the players.
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Many of the models got sick during and after the tournament, blaming the horrible conditions for their ill-health.
"Me and my colleagues almost every night had fevers because we left the matches already with a fever," one of the models said.
"I left with migraine and fever from the matches.
"Every night, sick. It was working in these conditions in which your teeth chattered, directly against your health and dignity."
Although initial complaints from the models were dismissed by organisers, Spain's General Workers Union, the workplace health and safety watchdog, have finally taken action for "sexual discrimination at work".
"The Work Inspection has been able to see what everyone saw and we denounced — the use of the body of eight women as advertising in the Conde de Godó Trophy contest of Barcelona, and also the lack of guarantees of … the preventive activities in work hazards risks for the female workers from Barcelona's Tennis Real Club."
It will be interesting to see whether these findings will have any consequence regarding how Australian sports employ models and cheerleaders at events.
Cheerleaders at rugby league games are often forced to sit through frigid and wet nights with little or no warm clothing over their cheerleading outfits.
