A Maple Ridge pub server’s complaint that she was fired for refusing to wear lipstick and makeup, will proceed to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.
Anne Choi was working at Black Sheep Public House in November of 2015 when she claims her boss, pub manager Sabrina Wong, asked why she was not wearing lipstick.
Later that day, the pub’s front-end staff were instructed in writing to ensure they wear makeup, including coloured lipstick and not merely clear lip balm, as Choi had been wearing.
Choi was fired a month later for, she claims, failing to comply with the pub’s dress code, although pub manager Andrew Wong refused to state in writing the reasons she lost her job.
She claims a diagnosed physical disability prevents her from wearing makeup.
The pub sought to have the complaint postponed until after Choi’s Workers’ Compensation Act complaint has been resolved.
But the tribunal denied that request Tuesday, ruling that a deferral would not be fair to Choi.
Tribunal member Catherine McCreary wrote that the tribunal has more remedies to address allegations of discrimination than the Workers Compensation Board.
“I am not persuaded that, in this case, the WCB proceeding is capable of appropriately dealing with the substance of Ms. Choi’s human rights complaint,” McCreary ruled.