After a six-year legal battle against a waxing salon owner in Ontario, an Indigenous transgender woman finally won. The Indigenous woman, known anonymously as A.B., filed her case back in 2018. Jason Carruthers, the owner of Mad Wax, a salon in Windsor Ontario, refused A.B. a Brazilian wax and told her by phone that nobody would offer that service to “someone like you,” referring to her transgender identity.
Feeling discriminated against and publicly humiliated, A.B. sought $50,000 for the “immense harm to her dignity.” At that time, A.B. was a director at a local trans community organization. She soon posted a video online warning trans people to avoid Mad Wax, but shortly took it down. Carruthers responded by sending a press release to several local outlets, referring to A.B. and other trans women as “males” and claiming she had made “threats” against Mad Wax.
Carruther denied the transphobic accusations, claiming that he had told A.B. that the spa did not offer Brazilian waxes on “male” body parts. Both parties’ stories differed slightly, but cross-examination held Carruthers to have “repeatedly misgendered” A.B. during their phone call. Finally, a decision was made on May 23 which found Carruthers to have violated multiple Ontario Human Rights Codes.
Carruthers was ordered to pay A.B. CAD $35,000 ($25,500) plus pre-judgment interest accruing from March 2018, as well as post-judgment interest beginning June 22 until completion of payment. Carruthers and his employees were also ordered to complete the Human Rights Commission’s online training course and provide proof within 30 days. A.B. has expressed some satisfaction about the tribunal’s decision. She is grateful her story of discrimination has been factually and clearly presented.
In response, Carruthers, who claims he will appeal the decision, began a GoFundMe campaign. “Justice for Jason” is the first thing to pop up on Mad Wax’s homepage. Underneath, the website reads, “Hi, I’m Jason Carruthers, owner of Mad Wax, a small waxing salon in Windsor, Ontario. Recently, I was ordered to pay $35,000 by the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (HRTO) for alleged discrimination. This ruling is unjust because I did not discriminate against anyone, and I need your help to fight it.”
Carruthers has yet to file his application for judicial review. The case suggests progress in the affairs of LGBTQ+ human rights. Although there is a way to go, Canadian human rights tribunals have increasingly sided with trans complainants in instances of intentional misgendering and discrimination in a place of business. “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,” says Megan Evans Maxwell, one of A.B.’s two lawyers from the Human Rights Legal Support Centre.
Canadian courts have shown continuous support for transgender human rights. However, many of these protections are lacking in the U.S. Here, we are witnessing increased anti-trans legislation. Several states uphold misgendering and other forms of transphobia as constitutionally protected free speech. Biden’s Title IX nondiscrimination law has been temporarily blocked in six states by a federal judge due to a pending lawsuit from six red states. As the country continues to regress, cases like A.B.’s provide hope that it is possible to side with justice.
