Wouldn’t another issue be skirt length? If she was wearing a longer skirt, the issue of whether she’s wearing underwear would be moot (aside from any potential health-department regs). Is skirt length covered in the corp dress code?
And uncomfortableness be damned, the manager needs to sit this woman down and let her know that she’s got to start wearing more appropriate clothing for the workplace. Dealing with that kind of situation is what management makes the big(ger) dough for.
Some treatment methods for Candida albicans recommend avoiding underwear where possible.
Of course, then she should probably be keeping her infected ass off the counter.
She should probably be keeping her clean and covered ass off the counter. Something about the sitting on the counter part of this story bothers me.
Maybe this is too obvious, but maybe the manager hasn’t done anything because he/she is enjoying the show.
“Our manager is at a loss.”
Uh-huh.
Your manager is a GUY, right?
(rereads OP)
Oooookay. She’s a woman, but wants to do the right thing. Okay, fine. “Boss, just tell her to put some damn pants on or be fired. Give her a choice.”
“But…”
“No buts. Think about it. What sane judge would hear her complaint that she was OFFERED A CHOICE between losing her job and wearing underwear? And even if it DID get as far as a lawsuit, can you imagine the newspapers? She’d be mortally embarrassed, and the restaurant would get loads of publicity! We can’t lose!”
Why doesn’t she get a job as a stripper, and likely make a fuckload more money? Are there not strip clubs in the area?
Huh? The female manager feels very uncomfortable telling a fellow female worker to wear underpants, and feels this needs to approached in a systematic and operationally meticulous fashion, when the time is right, and “all her ducks are in a row”.
The minds boggles at the levels of craven stupidity involved in this scenario.
Why don’t you (assumedly a female by your board moniker) take commando girl aside and explain to her why wearing underwear with a short shirt is a useful and necessary thing to do when interacting with the public. If she takes the hint your problem is solved. If not then your duck rowing manager can handle it when the moon is in proper alignment for this apparently Sisyphean task.
Maybe this poor hard working girl is just trying to put herself through school while supporting her family and saving up to pay for her grandmother’s operation. So she needs to make sixty thousand dollars a year in tips on top of her salary.
As a special favor for all my fellow dopers, I’m offering opportunities to invest now in my new restaurant chain - Commando Cafe.
Why yes, yes we are. 
Right that’s it. I’ll tell her. Get her on the boards now and we can all tell her. Just someone tell her.
Commando Cafe…
Your main competition will be Hooters.
You’ll need to make sure that (like Hooters) you keep plenty in reserve for the sexual harrassment lawsuits that are inevitable as twenty year old waitresses discover that “yes, they do get sexually harrassed by customers and managers when they work at a restaurant whose theme is breasts.” (Oh, yeah, its a family place and the mascot is an owl, right.)
Well, if you really want to go up against Hooters as Dangerosa suggests, might a better name for your new chain be …
You see it coming, right?
Beavers!
Strictly because of the mascot, of course (wink wink).
Depending on her style, it could also be Bushwhackers.
From that thread I have to ask, does she wear underpants when she’s “on”?
I knew if I were here long enough, I’d find a thread where the phrase “Kiss Mah Grits!” was actually applicable . . .
You guys may not have known this, but I actually work for the Health Department (1). We’ll be there soon, we just need to see a cite. Preferably a color one. Or in video.
Cinnamon- has it occurred to you that this might be really good for business?
I mean, it isn’t like I’m that easily manipulated into going back to the same restaurant again and again, but I can definitely see how lesser men might be…
ACKKK!!
I’m the OPs Hubby and I Don’t even want to think about Which 5 days to avoid going there.
When I first heard about this my first thought was a natural male reaction…“Shoe mirrors”
But then it dawns on me. ick!
(and this girl thinks I’m creepy!)
Personally I think the Mgr needs to discreetly have a sit-down with her and explain that if she is going to go without then she needs to wear something that will keep her covered. If she is going to insist on not wearing panties, the short skirt needs to be done away with and Shorts/pants should be required.
I don’t know any manager that is comfortable discussing personal hygiene with their employees. Sure it’s a sensitive matter, but it’s a hygenic imperitive that this be addressed, even if it does embarrass someone.