Gerika Mudra said she noticed her waitress looking at her oddly when Mudra and a friend sat down for lunch at the Owatonna, Minn., Buffalo Wild Wings this past April, but she never expected to get accosted in a bathroom.
The server started banging on Mudra’s bathroom stall door, saying “the man needs to get out of here,” Mudra said in an interview Tuesday. The harassment continued until Mudra, 18, exited the stall and lifted her shirt to show she has breasts.
“Then she just rolled her eyes and walked away,” Mudra said. “She didn’t even say sorry.”
The incident went viral after Mudra’s stepmother, Shauna Otterness, posted about it on Facebook, and others shared similar stories of being accosted based on their appearance.
Mudra, working with nonprofit firm Gender Justice, this week filed a discrimination claim with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights against Buffalo Wild Wings claiming she was harassed by the server who wrongly assumed her gender.
“Because she didn’t fit someone else’s idea of what a girl should look like, she was treated as suspicious,” said Megan Peterson, executive director of Gender Justice. “Unfortunately, this is an experience all too familiar to gender non-conforming, queer women and trans people. But no matter who it happens to, it’s not just wrong, it’s unlawful.”
The complaint seeks an official apology and acknowledgement from Buffalo Wild Wings, as well as a commitment to provide better anti-discrimination training for employees.
Minnesota Department of Human Rights officials declined to comment on the complaint as open cases are considered private under state law.
