Featured Image Credit: Gender Justice/Facebook
Topics: Minnesota, LGBTQ, Transgender, US News
Joe Yates
Topics: Minnesota, LGBTQ, Transgender, US News
A teenager is taking Buffalo Wild Wings to court, alleging that a server demanded she 'prove' she is a girl after having gone to the women's toilets.
Gerika Mudra, of Owatonna in Minnesota - a city an hour south of Minneapolis - visited the restaurant back in April with one of her friends when she needed to visit the restroom.
But as she entered the restroom, she claims that she was followed in by one of the workers who began banging on the stall, ordering her out. It is alleged that they said: "This is a women’s restroom. The man needs to get out of here."
The 18-year-old, who isn't transgender - came out of the bathroom stall and told the sever: "I am a lady."
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The accused is alleged to have insisted: "You have to get out now."
In order to cease her public shaming from continuing, the high schooler, who identifies as a lesbian, alleged that she was 'forced to unzip her hoodie' revealing that she had breasts.
Gender Justice, a Minnesota-based gender equality organization, has agreed to take on the case.
It released the following statement: "No one should be harassed in a public bathroom just for being themselves. High schooler Gerika Mudra was out to dinner with a friend, just a normal evening. Until she got up to use the bathroom.
"A server followed her into the women’s restroom, pounded on the stall door, and demanded she prove she belonged there. Why? Because Gerika didn’t fit someone else’s idea of what a girl 'should' look like.
"Scared, trapped, and humiliated, Gerika was forced to unzip her hoodie to show she had breasts—just to make it stop. This wasn’t just wrong, it was illegal. And it’s part of a larger, dangerous trend."
Mudra has since spoken out about her treatment, and she shared how she no longer feels comfortable using the restroom anywhere but home.
“She made me feel very uncomfortable,” she said, per NBC News. “After that, I just don’t like going in public bathrooms. I just hold it in. ... I want to be able to use the bathroom in peace.”
A press conference was held by Gender Justice on Tuesday (August 12). Speaking at the event, senior attorney at the firm Sara Jane Baldwin said: "Businesses have a legal obligation not to just have anti-discrimination policies on paper, but to train staff and ensure that those policies are followed in real time.
"When that doesn’t happen, the business is liable for the harm caused.”
UNILAD has contacted Inspire Brands, the franchise that owns Buffalo Wild Wings, for comment.