RESTO ORDERED TO PAY $14.5K

Waitress scolded for hair style, pants

I feel proud and I just want to let all other black females know that, if something is going on, know you have rights. LETTIA McNICKLE

The owner of a Montreal steakhouse was ordered to pay a former employee $14,500 in damages for ordering her to wear skirts and get rid of her braided hair. In a Nov. 27 decision, the Quebec Human Rights Commission found Roulla Kyriacou created working conditions that discriminated against her employee’s race and gender. Lettia McNickle started waitressing at the downtown Madisons Restaurant & Bar in October 2014 and said she began noticing problems early. “I was wearing pants, going with the dress code but (Kyriacou) still insisted that I wear skirts, above the knee,” said McNickle. “I did just that but then I realized that other girls were wearing pants. So then I complained, ‘Other girls are wearing pants and I’m wearing a skirt. Why is that?’ ” A few weeks later, McNickle showed up to work with her hair braided in cornrows. Her manager sent McNickle home. “It didn’t really kick in until I almost got home. I called my mother and I started to cry because I didn’t believe it was actually happening,” McNickle said. The next day, she changed her hairstyle but kept the braids. “(Kyriacou) went ballistic,” McNickle said, fighting back tears. “Publicly — in front of customers, in front of employees — embarrassing me and telling me that, my hairstyle, she doesn’t want it here and that the managers didn’t give her message properly.” Over the following months, McNickle’s hours at the Drummond St. steakhouse were cut until she was let go in March 2015. After the controversy made local headlines, Madisons’ corporate office issued an apology to McNickle and agreed to facilitate mediation sessions with her. But the company backtracked a few weeks later, and in April 2015 McNickle filed a complaint with the human rights commission. In the wake of last month’s ruling, Kyriacou has until Dec. 21 to abide by the settlement. If she appeals, the case will go before the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal. “I feel proud and I just want to let all other black females know that, if something is going on, know you have rights,” McNickle said. “In your workplace, in your school, you have rights — whether it’s your hair or your skin colour.” Madisons dress code stipulates that employees’ hair must be clean, tied and professional. It says nothing about braids. Given that McNickle didn’t appear to run afoul of this criteria, the commission ruled that her charter rights were violated. The law firm representing Kyriacou referred the Montreal Gazette to Madisons’ parent company, MTY Food Group. A representative from the parent company said it will review the commission’s decision before commenting on the matter. “Madisons has to have a cultural awakening in terms of racial and gender equality,” said Fo Niemi, executive director for the Centre for Research Action on Race Relations. During her time at the steakhouse, McNickle said there was only one other black employee, a woman in her late 40s. She says she never asked her colleague about her interactions with the restaurant’s owner. “I realized after the incident, from the day I started working there until the day I left, she had the same wig on the whole time,” McNickle said. “Did they ask her to keep it; did they tell her to change it?” Since filing her complaint, McNickle moved to Toronto where she’s studying to be a flight attendant. She says her hair hasn’t been a problem in job interviews or at work but she finds herself asking if it will be anyway. McNickle’s mom, Huella, a hairdresser, said she’s proud of her daughter’s strength. “Your hair doesn’t define you; your conduct, your character, your work ethic, that’s what defines you,” Huella said. “I’m happy. I’m really happy that we have the victory today.”