No human rights case for fired bald waitress

The Manitoba Human Rights Commission will not investigate a Winnipeg waitress's complaint that she was fired for shaving her head.

Stephanie Lozinski says she was told that her case is not a human rights matter because she voluntarily went bald.

The 21-year-old university student cut off all her hair this month to show support for her uncle, who was dying of cancer.

She started wearing a wig or silk scarf on the job, but her supervisor fired her, saying her appearance was unacceptable.

She said that on Jan. 16, after she finished a shift at Winnipeg's Sawatdee Thai restaurant, she was told her hairless head was not in keeping with the restaurant's dress code and dismissed.

Manager Linh Bo said the step was justified.

"If you go to fine dining, what do you expect from a server? Seriously," said Mr. Bo. "You walk into fine dining and you have fine dining."

Mr. Bo said managers at the restaurant's two locations are clear with staff that they can't have visible tattoos and must wear their hair appropriately.

Ms. Lozinski said she doesn't want her job back. She said she is confident she will find another job soon.

"Having a physical symbol that I'm there for (my uncle) is important," said the full-time student at the University of Winnipeg. "Looking pretty means nothing (compared to cancer)."

This isn't the first time a shaved head for cancer has sparked an employment tussle.

In 2008, a waitress in Owen Sound, Ont., Stacey Fearnall, was fired after she shaved her head to raise $2,700 for cancer charities. After a storm of media attention, the restaurant's owner apologized to Ms. Fearnall and cancer groups. Ms. Fearnall found work elsewhere.


(2010-1-28/nationalpost)