“Even if a dress code is implemented for non-discriminatory reasons, it would likely be found to be discriminatory where it adversely affects an employee or group of employees on the basis of their Code-protected grounds,” wrote the Halton District School Board (HDSB) in its report titled “Dress Code Considerations,” published Nov. 8.
The board also wrote that “it is important to recognize the impact that dress code policies can have on members of the transgender community.”
“Most notably, it is important for employers to make allowances to ensure that these employees are able to express themselves in accordance with their lived gender,” the board wrote.
In September, HDSB defended a teacher at Oakville Trafalgar High School (OTHS) who was videotaped by students wearing large prosthetic breasts with protruding nipples while teaching shop class.
In its report released on Nov. 8, the HDSB added that any possible dress code would have to be “gender neutral” and “impose similar dress standards and requirements for all employees, regardless of gender.”
‘Must Be A Dress Code’
Recently-elected HDSB trustee Xin Yi Zhang told The Epoch Times in a previous interview that the Oakville teacher’s choice of attire is an issue that “should be resolved by the current board members.”“There must be a dress code for teachers,” Zhang wrote in an email on Oct. 27. “Students are the clients of the school. The decision should be made by the parents who have children in the school.”
“This teacher is an extremely effective teacher,” Shuttleworth said.
Several OTHS students at the protest said they feel “uncomfortable” or “weirded out” by the teacher’s attire.
“The teacher’s creeping me out,” said another. “It’s getting weirder every time I see her … it does not feel right.”