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Terry Newman: Apparently, everything is discrimination now

Quebec tribunal orders salon to pay $500 after non-binary client complained it only offered cuts for women or men

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A human rights tribunal has ordered a salon just outside of Montreal to pay a non-binary customer $500 because its list of services lacked a gender-neutral option. The tribunal’s ruling: discrimination based on gender identity. If the salon doesn’t pay, it risks being sued.

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Apparently, everything is discrimination now.

Terry Newman: Apparently, everything is discrimination now Back to video

According to a report by CBC Radio-Canada, back in February 2023, Alexe Frédéric Migneault, who identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, decided to book a hair appointment online at Station10.

Migneault told the reporter that this salon, which has two locations in Quebec, one in Montreal and one in the Montreal suburb of Longueuil, which is on their way to work, has many services that they appreciate: appointments can be booked online and the hairdressers charge by the minute.

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It’s unclear from the article whether this was Migneault’s first time interacting with the website or either of their locations in the past.

What is clear, is that Migneault was not impressed. When attempting to book the cut, the following options were presented on the salon’s website: “man, woman, child, beard or braids.”

This prompted them to email the salon directly to inquire as to how someone who did not identify as a man or woman could make a reservation.

Someone from Station10 responded, explaining that the choice of man or woman was “only a guideline,” and that they were free to choose the service they were most comfortable with, adding that whatever Migneault chose, they would be happy to cut their hair.

This response from the small local business failed to satisfy Migneault, who filed a complaint with the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse du Québec (CDPDJ), which is a human rights and youth rights commission in Quebec.

The matter eventually ended up before the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal. Reportedly, emails included with the complaint to the tribunal showed that Migneault wasn’t comfortable with entering what they described as “false information” about themself. In those emails, Migneault also expressed fear that, for some reason, they would be forced to come out to the employee who would greet them at the salon.

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In one email, Migneault wrote: “Forcing a non-binary person to choose between male or female is a form of erasure.”

The salon reportedly changed its site to include a gender-neutral option and offered Migneault three free haircuts. But this was not enough.

Reportedly, Migneault originally requested $12,500 from the salon, for “moral damages, material damages and punitive damages.” Migneault argued that this unsatisfactory hair appointment booking was discrimination, and that it caused their mental health to deteriorate, leading to them leaving their place of employment and having thoughts about committing suicide.  

In June 2024, the CDPDJ ruled that Migneault had been a victim of discrimination based on gender identity. It ruled that, as a remedial measure, Station10 salon must pay $500. If not, the small business risked being sued.

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Station10 refused to pay and filed a counter-claim in the amount of $5,000 for “abuse of court services.”

The whole matter was then taken to the Human Rights Tribunal which, earlier this month, rejected both claims, but still ordered the Station10 salon to pay the $500 suggested earlier by the CDPDJ.

Meanwhile, salon co-owner André Dagenais told CBC Radio-Canada that he does not believe the salon did anything wrong. Dagenais pointed to Migneault’s Facebook account, where they allegedly boast of filing many complaints with not just Station10, but other businesses and institutions. Dagenais told the reporter that he still may appeal the tribunal’s decision, which must be done by March 5. This revelation apparently shocked Migneault.

Patrick Taillon, a law professor at the Université Laval, told CBC he was bewildered why the tribunal did not find the salon’s earlier accommodation efforts sufficient.

Migneault’s public Facebook page seems preoccupied with non-binary issues. In one post, they share a video where they shred their RAMQ health card, stating, “I have received yet another totally useless document from RAMQ … A card with the right sex marker, but my old one is still reflected in the number! Completely and utterly unusable.”

Another post complains, “Three years … It took me THREE YEARS to get a driver’s licence without error. Simply because I’m a non-binary … My existence is so “difficult” to bureaucratize for Gouvernement du Québec apparently. That speaks volumes about the quality of infrastructure in which it chooses to operate.”

In another post, they share an image of a statement written by an account named DrillKnight, exclaiming: “Happy International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia! Here’s my new answer to an intrusive question about my gender identity.” The statement reads: “i do not identify as a boy or a girl, i identify as a nuisance. an irritant. a fool and a problem.”

No doubt, the owners at Station10 salon agree.

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