AIO for wanting to go to the labor board?
Posting this for a friend. We live in BC, Canada.
So my friend, Jenna (26mtf), got a job at a bar downtown about 3 months ago, and apparently it hasn't been going as well as I thought it's been going.
Now, technically, she's not an official employee for the bar. She's a contractor. So while she isn't officially on the company payroll, she's been working as a DJ/sometimes handyman for odd fixes around the bar.
So, apparently, a few of the regular groups have been complaining about my friend. Complaining about her attitude and demeanor, things like that. Things that I, in all honesty, thought were reasonable. But after some of the things they said to her last night, I'm starting to question what their real motivation here is.
They keep telling Jenna that she isn't conforming to the dress code and what she wears is making people uncomfortable. But she isn't wearing anything that I haven't seen any of the cisgender women employees and customers wear. In fact, I've seen some of the servers where even skimpier clothing than Jenna. She literally got told last night that she doesn't "pass" enough as a girl to be able to wear women's clothing and she should try growing her hair out and wearing makeup. In my opinion, that's straight up discrimination. Jenna ended up getting really upset and they sent her home. And here I am.
Essentially, she just wants to know if she's overreacting for wanting to go speak with the labor board or whoever is the relevant person to speak to about her job being affected because she's basically being told she isn't allowed to dress the way she identifies with. Like, does she even have grounds for anything since she isn't an official employee? Or should she just cut her losses and find a job somewhere else? She's just incredibly upset and feeling very invalidated right now, and I want to help her.