A winner of a US beauty contest, who asserted that her crown was taken away due to weight gain, has successfully fought in court to reclaim her title.
Seventeen-year-old Domonique Ramirez alleged that pageant officials in Texas advised her to “get off the tacos.”
According to the organizers of the Miss San Antonio contest, she was let go for violating her contract.
After nearly 12 hours of consideration, jurors in Bexar County, Texas, favored Ms. Ramirez.
Judge Barbara Nellermoe stated that she had “no choice but to reinstate Domonique Ramirez as Miss San Antonio 2011.”
“This is about principle, this is about what’s right,” said Ms. Ramirez, who stands at 5ft 8in and weighs 58.5kg, after last week’s verdict.
Ms. Ramirez had her crown taken away in January, with organizers citing her tardiness at events and her failure to act in a manner suitable for a beauty queen.
During the week-long trial, pageant director Linda Woods remarked that the young contestant showed up overweight for a bikini shoot, rendering the photographs “unusable.”
In court, Ms. Ramirez shared that pageant officials had told her she “needed to lay off the tacos and the junk food.”
Ms. Woods characterized the verdict as an “injustice for the city of San Antonio.”
The jury foreman, Jesse Sanchez, mentioned to the local paper, the Express-News, that the decision was a “hard decision.” She refrained from revealing the damages and fees awarded to Ms. Ramirez.
With her title reinstated, Ms. Ramirez can now vie for Miss Texas and Miss America.
However, one issue persists: during her time of dismissal, another Miss San Antonio, Ashley Dixon, was crowned.
“I don’t intend to take the crown away from Ashley. I hope that we can both share it and that she can compete for Miss Texas as well as Miss Bexar County, so we can share the crown,” stated Ms. Ramirez.
by Sash Dubronitz
