NEW YORK, NY March 31, 2009 —A new report from a restaurant workers group finds deep disparities in who's working in the front and the back of the house.

The report on expensive restaurants in the city shows discrimination and occupational segregation is often the norm. The study sent applicants to apply for jobs in the restaurants, and found non-white applicants were nearly 55 percent less likely to get a job offer. Rink Sen with Colorlines Magazine says often the discrimination is "subconscious".

SEN: Its based on very deeply embedded assumptions about what signals luxury, what signals high end, what signals you're being taken care of.

The study was commissioned after restaurant workers of color and women complained that they found it nearly impossible to move from the back of the house into more lucrative positions, like waiter or bartender. Advocates want new laws requiring restaurants to post all job openings and make promotion polices more transparent.