Pedicures aren't supposed to be painful, but Kimberly Adie's attempt to get one really hurt.
“I was sitting in the car. I couldn't get out. I'm gutted. I was crying my eyes out," she told CTV Winnipeg in an interview Tuesday.
This past Saturday, Kimberly Adie and her fiancé James walked into A1 Nail Pampers in south Winnipeg to get pedicures together.
Adie said workers at the salon told her they couldn't serve her, only her fiancé.
"She said, ‘You can't fit in the chair. You won't fit,’ and she kept repeating it, over and over again," said Adie.
Shocked and ashamed, the couple left.
SALON OWNER SAYS SORRY
The owner is upset Adie got turned away and told CTV Winnipeg she's sorry.
Owner Kim Lam said the salon was busy Saturday and they didn't have time to properly accommodate Adie. Lam said the chairs used for pedicures are expensive, and have broken in the past.
"Because it happened already and people sometimes fall down and I can help them a lot,” said Lam.
The salon said everyone is welcome and wants to make things right.
Occupational therapist Mary Forhan from the University of Alberta has some advice.
"This situation, it could be something as simple as (saying), ‘Right now, I'm not going to be able to provide you with a pleasant and professional experience, but what I'd like to do, is understand a little bit more about what the needs are and I'd like you to come back,’" Forham said from Edmonton.
Adie is feeling a bit better. She and her fiancé went to another salon and got their pedicures.
"The damage was done. I was hurt. I don't want anyone else to experience that. I don't want them to be ashamed of who they are, or what they look like," said Adie.
HUMAN RIGHTS COMPLAINT
Adie said she plans to file a human rights complaint.
In an email statement to CTV Winnipeg on Monday, Isha Khan with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission said:
“The Human Rights Code prohibits discrimination in services available to the public, which includes stores and restaurants. Discrimination is defined as treating a person differently on the basis of one of the characteristics in The Code (such as age, sex, disability, ancestry etc.) but also as failing to reasonably accommodate the special needs of a person where those needs are based on one of those characteristics.”
