Posted on 07/26/2018 1:03:11 PM PDT by rickmichaels
An Ontario [Canada] woman says she plans to file a human rights complaint against a barber who refused to cut her hair because of her gender.
But Waterloo, Ont. barber Joe Cignelli says he’s never cut women’s hair and wouldn’t feel confident enough to properly perform the job.
“I’ve been married 43 years and I’ve never given my wife a haircut because I don’t feel comfortable,” Cignelli told CTV Kitchener.
Erica Croft, a hair stylist from Stratford, Ont., wears her hair short and walked into G & T Barbers in hopes of getting a touch-up. That’s when she says a young male employee at the shop told her he couldn’t take her business, citing a company policy.
“He immediately said ‘No no, we don’t do women’s hair here. We don’t do women’s hair. I can’t cut your hair,’” she said. “I thought it was a bit of a joke.”
Cignelli’s version of the story is slightly different.
“In a very polite way I said, ‘I’m sorry, but we’re not confident enough to give haircuts to ladies,” he said.
Croft often visits barber shops for a clipper cut, a style she describes as “pretty much barber 101.” She says she’s never once been rejected.
The experience left her feeling “a little bit angry, but more shocked and hurt.”
“It was scary and it was upsetting,” she said.
Cignelli insists the refusal was not discrimination and says he’s refused haircuts to women in the past.
“It’s a men’s cut, pretty much. I’m not making no discrimination. If she got offended, I apologize to her. It’s all I can do – apologize,” he said.
But human rights lawyer Cheronlyn Knapp says a person’s motivation has little impact on whether or not an incident can be deemed discriminatory.
“The human rights code says that intent to discriminate is not the test. The test is the effect of the conduct. The effect on the person is what’s going to be looked at,” Knapp said.
Croft was so upset by the experience, she plans to file a formal complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission. The commission hears complaints and uses the Ontario Human Rights Code to determine if a person’s rights were infringed upon.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to refuse people based on their gender,” Croft said.
As a hair stylist herself, Croft says she’s had people walk into her shop who she didn’t necessarily feel comfortable giving a haircut.
“But it is your obligation to give it a college try,” she said, adding that she’d never refuse a haircut to a man.
Cignelli says he meant no harm to Croft. He says that, in the 47 years his business has been open, he’s never cut a woman’s hair, and the shop was simply following policy.
“And today’s society, you’ve got to be very, very careful,” he said.
Croft says she hopes the conversation around her experience sparks change.
“I want to be treated like everyone else. I just want to be able to go into a barbershop and have a barber cut my hair. They’re the best at, they use the clipper all day long.”
Are we surprised that she is some fat, lesbianic, ugly libtard? Hell no. These types always are.
She says she often goes into barber shops for "touch ups." More like she has been trolling various places until she found a place that would not give her service. She has found her mark and is going for a payday.
People like this drive me nuts. Her personal standard should be applied to the universe? The barber told her the reason - the possible/probably ruination of her looks. Is she actually claiming she would be ok with a bad haircut just to prove a point (a specious point that is)?
Just take your money and go someplace else ,Barber Shops are everywhere these days but NO she has to make a big deal out of it ,LOL
He’s a better man than me - I can’t tell if that’s a woman.
“It was scary and it was upsetting,” she said.
It was scary? You have to be kidding me.
And at this point we realize that she deliberately setup the barber to harm him.
She planned it and he got picked ,if he said OK ,would she have gone someplace else ?
Barber should have given her a haircut she would never forget, like the one I gave myself earlier this summer, after 4 beers.
Have her come back, fire up the clippers, give it a boot camp buzz cut and say Whoops Sorry Buh Bye
Gad, what a douchebag that woman is.
Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.
He should make her sign a waiver saying he is not responsible for what she thinks of her hair cut. Then take her money and give it a shot. If she doesn’t like it, “No Refunds. Here’s your sign.”
If someone told me they weren’t qualified to perform the service I wanted, I certainly wouldn’t insist they do it anyway and take my money. What an idiot.
“It was scary and it was upsetting,” she said.
For whom?
The barber was in a lose-lose situation. Refuse the haircut and get sued. Agree and likely get sued for a poor haircut because she’s a lesbian.
Yup. If she wants to bad-mouth the barber to her friends/family that’s one thing. But, to make a federal (literally!) case about it is something else. This screams of “look at me!”.
Seems like a set up to me.
Sure. And if it were a member of the death cult who refused, the woman would be accused of islamophobia.
Just saw the picture. Now it’s clear.
Man-haters are specially privileged and can get anyone fired or arrested on their simple word.
The man is wrong and has no recourse.
If the non-man in the picture were rational, it would go somewhere else for a haircut! But it is angry and hates men, and knows that it has power over men and everyone else.
One of the many things I hate about these SJW libtards is that they almost always go after soft targets. When they start going after muzzies wake me up!!
"I'm sorry, but I don't feel comfortable performing that operation on you. I'm just not confident enough in my abilities to work on your ailment."
-PJ
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