The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario awarded an Indigenous transgender woman $35,000 in legal damages after a waxing salon denied her service.
In addition to the damages, an undisclosed amount in interest will be paid, caculated from the start of the case on March 17, 2018. More interest may be incurred if the owner of the salon fails to pay within 30 days.
The decision comes after a six-year legal battle between the woman, A.B., and Mad Wax Salon in Windsor, Ontario. A.B. called the salon to book an appointment for a leg wax but was refused because the only available staff member, a Muslim woman, refused to wax people assigned male at birth, citing religious beliefs.
The situation escalated to the point where the owner of the salon, Jason Carruthers, intervened. Carruthers incorrectly assumed that A.B. wanted a Brazilian wax, where pubic hair from around the genitals and the anus is removed.
In its ruling, the tribunal noted that Carruthers, during cross-examination, admitted the applicant had never explicitly requested a Brazilian wax and that he had made that assumption.
According to the tribunal’s findings, Carruthers allegedly misgendered A.B., claiming she had a penis, and telling her that no one would be comfortable performing the procedure on “someone like you.”
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After A.B. insisted that the refusal to serve her violated Canada’s human rights law, Carruthers allegedly claimed that she wanted to start a “media circus,” and that a private video, posted to Facebook, in which A.B. told members of her organization not to seek services from Mad Wax, was the start of the “circus.”
Carruthers later contacted three media outlets to allegedly “set the record straight,” revealing A.B.’s name and contact information. Those outlets reached out to A.B. for comment, and she refuted the “facts” contained in Carruthers’ version of the story. She asked them not to run any stories at that time, and they initially agreed.
But after A.B. submitted a complaint alleging discrimination, Mad Wax issued a press release containing personal information about A.B. and misrepresenting the nature of the services A.B. had sought out.
The news outlets then ran stories favoring Carruthers’ version of events, along with assertions that the salon’s employees had been asked to perform a Brazilian wax on a transgender woman with male genitalia.
The salon’s media outreach strategy led to public harassment of A.B. and speculations about the nature and extent of her transition, which traumatized her, leading her to attempt suicide and relapse into substance abuse.
A.B. claims that those problematic coping behaviors subsequently caused her to lose her job and fractured her marriage, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Company.
Although the incident occurred in 2018, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario did not issue a ruling on the case until May 2024.
In that decision, Karen Dawson, the vice-chair of the Human Rights Tribunal, found that Max Wax had discriminated against A.B. because of her gender identity — in violation of protections guaranteed to transgender individuals under Canada’s human rights code.
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It ordered the salon to compensate her for damages valued at $35,000. She also ordered Carruthers and his employees to complete the Human Rights Commission’s online training course and provide proof of completion within 30 days, reports Them.
Following the ruling, A.B. issued a statement to the CBC expressing relief.
“This decision brings me some peace,” she said. “It helps tell the story of the discrimination I faced and the steps taken to escalate that discrimination and harassment against me.”
Carruthers, however, called the tribunal’s findings “unjust,” adding that he was “shocked by the awarded amount as a small business owner.”
His attorney, Raymond Colautti, told the CBC he had filed an application for judicial review in an attempt to appeal the ruling, calling it “deeply flawed.”
Megan Evans Maxwell, one of A.B.’s attorneys, said she believes the tribunal’s ruling was reasonable and based on solid legal footing, meaning it will survive any appeal.
“We feel this is an incredibly significant case for trans people and we really do think that this is a move in the right direction,” she said.
