Christine's Haircut

A hair salon was ruled in the wrong for denying a disabled woman service. Christine Schink leads an active, productive life and wishes others would see her the way she sees herself.

The severely disabled Capilano College student has just won $1,500 in a human-rights case after she was refused service by a Richmond hair salon.

"Wow! I'm happy-it's great news," said Schink, 40, who communicates by body motion and tapping her thoughts into a computer, using a head stick.

The British Columbia Human Rights Council found that Schink had been "subjected to public humiliation for no reason other than her disability".

The SARAW student, who has cerebral palsy combined with scoliosis, a spinal-cord disease, relies on a reclining wheelchair on which she lies face-down.

She was accompanied by her sister, Maureen Bucholz, when she arrived at Raymond Salons in Richmond Centre Mall for an appointment with senior stylist Raymond Chiu in September 1994.

Chiu's refusal to cut Schink's hair "was so hurtful", said Bucholz. "It was devastating to a person's self-esteem. It's not acceptable in this day and age".

Chiu testified that he had never given a haircut to someone lying facedown and was concerned about injuring her. He also said his English skills weren't adequate to communicate with Schink.

Human Rights Council member, Tom Patch, accepted that Chiu's refusal arose from a genuine fear of hurting Schink. But Patch wasn't persuaded that the refusal was reasonable in the circumstances.

He found Chiu's English was adequate to communicate with other English-speaking customers, and noted that other stylists were available to assist.

Background Information

Most people have faced some kind of discrimination during their lifetime. They may face discrimination because they have disabilities, are of a minority race, are women, are elderly and the list goes on. Talk about experiences you may have had with discrimination. How did it make you feel? What did you do about it?

Questions

1. What does deny mean?

2. How much money did Christine win?

3. How does Christine communicate?

4. What is humiliation?

5. How does Christine get around?

6. Where did she go to get her hair cut?

7. Do you think Chiu should have cut Christine's hair?

8. What is another word for adequate?

9. Why did Tom Patch rule against Chiu?

10. What do you think you would have done if you were Chiu?