Is This the Next Wave in Gender Discrimination Claims?
A barbershop is facing a fine for refusing to cut a woman’s hair.
John Interval runs Barbiere of Washington County in Pennsylvania. The shop aims to service upscale gentlemen as a sort of “getaway, to be around other guys,” Interval says.
Apparently that means no women, whatsoever. The Barbiere is now being fined $750 for gender discrimination, according to the Observer-Reporter.
The New York Daily News reports Diamond Pecjak filed a lawsuit after one of the shop’s barbers—a woman, actually—turned Pecjack away.
“I didn’t really consider it so much a discrimination thing as—it’s a barbershop … for guys,” Interval says.
The OR reports Interval even recommended other salons and offered to pay for Pecjack’s haircut to mitigate the inconvenience.
Interval says he won’t contest the fine, but he does disagree with the penalty.
Eventually, the barber hopes to open another shop, exclusively for women.
“You know, I’m not opposed to doing women’s hair,” Interval says. “Just not in this shop. I don’t even have [the equipment] to do women’s hair. I want to open a shop to cater to them and no men will be allowed there.
