Hunters Hill Barber’s legal battle refusal to cut girl’s hair settles out of court
IT’S taken eight months for a Hunters Hill barber shop to settle a dispute over their refusal to cut a girl’s hair. The verdict is in.
Northern District Times
Don't miss out on the headlines from Northern District Times. Followed categories will be added to My News.
IT’S taken months for a Hunters Hill barber shop to settle a dispute over their refusal to cut a girl’s hair.
The child’s mother claimed he breached the Sex Discrimination Act but the Hunters Hill Barber owner, Sam Rahim, said he was not trained to cut women’s hair.
The incident occurred before Christmas. The basis of the claim is that the barber shop refused to “simply run the clippers through my daughter’s undercut, because she was a girl”.
A spokeswoman from Inside Eagles law firm, where the mother works, said his explanation was that he wished to keep his barber shop for boys and men only.
Despite the dictionary’s definition of a ‘barber’ being a person who cuts men’s hair and shaves or trims beards as an occupation, Mr Rahim has had to post a public statement to his social media saying he’ll cut the hair of any gender, as long as the cut is within his capabilities.
Settling the case, ahead of its October court date, he took to social media, posting:
“My name is Sam Rahim and I own and operate barber shop Hunters Hill. There has been media attention recently in relation to a sex discrimination claim instituted against me for declining to provide services to a girl who entered my barber shop. Regrettably, there was a misunderstanding between the parties. I am happy to say that the proceedings have now been resolved. The girl is welcome in my barber shop any time and I would be happy to provide the same service to her as I do for other customers, regardless of gender.”
Mr Rahim said he cannot change the law in Australia.
“In future, if a female/transgender or any gender comes into my barber shop and would like a buzz cut, (a cut within my capabilities) it would be against the law to say ‘no’.
“These are the current laws in Australia and, at the moment, barbers have no exemptions like women-only gyms.”
The eight-month battle has taken its toll on Mr Rahim, who considered closing his shop on multiple occasions.
The community supported him from day one. The community threw funds towards his impending legal battle. In a few weeks, more than $32,000 was raised.
Now the case won’t make the court, Mr Rahim said he’ll use the funds to pay his legal team and any left over will be given away.
“We will not keep any money but will pay our legal team and with the rest, I would love your suggestion on a charity to donate,” he said.
“I want to give back to the community and will organise a free sausage barbecue at the barber shop as a gesture to say thank you for all your amazing support.”
Mr Rahim is not alone in facing court. A Darwin barber shop received a discrimination complaint this year, a Brisbane barber shop has a complaint against it with the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Commission and a Melbourne-based barber had a complaint dismissed in February.
Barbering qualifications were reintroduced in Australia two years ago after a 31-year hiatus. To date there are just over 100 apprentice-qualified barbers in Australia. The rest have learned on the job from others here and overseas.
Some barber shops have had shopping centre leases altered to specify ‘no females’ to cover them if a woman wants a trim.