Ontario School Board Says ‘No’ to Dress Code for Teachers After Controversy Over Teacher Who Wears Large Prosthetic Breasts

Halton District School Board decided this week that it could not implement a dress code for teachers for fear that it would be deemed "discriminatory." The decision came after a high school teacher in the district sparked controversy for wearing large prosthetic breasts to class. (BlurryMe/Shutterstock)

An Ontario school board decided this week that it could not implement a teacher’s dress code for fear that it would be deemed “discriminatory.” The issue arose after a high school teacher in the district sparked controversy for wearing large prosthetic breasts to class.

“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.

“We are standing behind this member of staff, as prescribed by the Ontario Charter of Human Rights,” HDSB chair Margo Shuttleworth told The Epoch Times on Sept. 19.

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.”

“If an employer’s dress and grooming standards place more difficult requirements on female employees relative to those placed on male employees, or require female employees to dress in a manner which is more conventional, such standards could form the basis of a discrimination claim under the [Human Rights] Code.”

‘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.”

Shuttleworth told the Toronto Sun in September that students “really love” being in the teacher’s class.

“This teacher is an extremely effective teacher,” Shuttleworth said.

A number of parents and students in the HDSB gathered outside Oakville Trafalgar High School on Sept. 23 to protest the board’s lack of disciplinary action against the teacher for wearing large fake breasts.

Several OTHS students at the protest said they feel “uncomfortable” or “weirded out” by the teacher’s attire.

“As students in the school, we can confirm that all the students don’t love her,” said one ninth-grade student.

“The teacher’s creeping me out,” said another. “It’s getting weirder every time I see her … it does not feel right.”

The Ontario College of Teachers is currently reviewing their professional conduct standards at the request of Ontario’s Education Minister Stephen Lecce and in response to the issue.

Andrew Chen contributed to this report.