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Spicy debate dished up after server's dismissal

Employers allowed to set dress codes

By: Melissa Martin

Posted: 01/28/2011 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES Enlarge Image

Stephanie Lozinski’s firing over her hairstyle has become a hot topic.

Ingredients in a successful restaurant: tasty food, top service and just the right ambience, from the look to the lights.

But when it comes to the intersection of gender and appearance, where must employers draw the line?

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On Thursday, a debate broke out in Winnipeg over a Free Press report that a student was canned from her serving job after she shaved her head, inspired by the stories of family members battling cancer.

Stephanie Lozinski, 21, woke up to find her phone ringing off the hook, as other media sought her story. Sawatdee Thai, the Provencher Boulevard restaurant she had worked at, was closed for the day. And on Twitter, some city restaurateurs riffed on the matter.

"I would not choose to fire one of my servers over shaving their head for a cause. Or no cause," mused Danielle Svenne, who together with husband Alex owns chic Bistro 71/4 on Osborne Street. However, she might draw the line at an employee getting a snake tattooed on their face, she quipped.

That would be her right, according to employment law experts. "The general rule is that it's up to the employer to set the dress code," said Diana Scarth, executive director of Manitoba's Human Rights Commission. "But there are some exceptions."

For instance, employers must accommodate changes in appearance due to a disability, or something such as chemotherapy. Religious reasons for an appearance choice must also be accommodated.

But when it comes to the issue of a woman being fired for a voluntary buzzcut, that can be a murkier issue. "If the employer thinks that women have to look a certain way in order to be a waitress, that's where there's the element of possible sex discrimination," said Scarth.

In 2008, an Ontario human rights commissioner said a similar case in that province might constitute sex discrimination.

Or it could be a simple matter of employer's individual taste and expectations.

"Restaurants run their business as they see fit," said Scott Jocelyn, the executive director of the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association. "You could talk to six or seven different restaurants -- some may have handled it exactly the same, some may have come up with a compromise, some may have endorsed the cause."

Employment standards allow that an employer has a right to fire an employee if they voluntarily changed their appearance, he said. Although it's rare for restaurateurs to contact him for advice navigating issues with a worker's looks, he always advises members to be crystal-clear on the issue.

"You don't hire people to fire them," he said. "The forward-thinking guy is laying all this stuff out in advance, saying 'here you go, this is the dress code, this is the expectation.' "

If one good thing comes out of the discussion, it may be an increased awareness of employee and employer rights. Some Manitobans believe they can look however they want without employment repercussions, Scarth said, and stories like this can change that assumption and highlight the nuances of human rights.

"There's always the balancing act," she said.

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 28, 2011 A5

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