Hooters, sponsor of the Hooters Hula Bowl and numerous
stadium billboards, says it is outraged with the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission's meddling and will "promise a fight" at a
press conference today. Hooters says the EEOC is forcing the
chain to pay $22M into a fund to be distributed to male victims
of Hooters' hiring policy and to provide sensitivity training "to
teach Hooters' employees how to be more sensitive to men's
needs." Hooters took out full page ads in this morning's USA
TODAY and WASHINGTON POST protesting the action and will hold a
rally today in Washington (USA TODAY, 11/15)....Herman's Sporting
Goods will open a new store in Rockefeller Center today directly
across from the ice rink. Herman's CEO Al Fasola said the store
will be the chain's "flagship" unit and expects $10M in sales
there in the first year (N.Y. POST, 11/15).... Cowboys RB Emmitt
Smith visited Ft. Worth's Leonard Middle School as part of the
J.C. Penney/Starter Take a Player to School contest. Smith spent
the morning with a student who also won a $1,000 scholarship,
Cowboys apparel and tickets to a Cowboys game (FT. WORTH STAR-
TELEGRAM, 11/15).... Federal bank regulators yesterday voted
unanimously to approve Fleet Financial Group's acquisition of
Shawmut Bank, creating the nation's tenth largest bank with $81B
in assets. In the merger, Fleet assumed Shawmut's naming rights
to Boston's new arena (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/15). ....Dan Marino's
annual celebrity golf tournament will become the season-opening
event on the Celebrity Golf Assoc.'s tour when it is played in
February. The tournament raised $300,000 for children's
charities last year. Celebrities confirmed include Roger
Clemens, Dan Quayle, Johnny Bench and Steve Bartkowski (MIAMI
HERALD, 11/15).
