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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Lesbian teen says Buffalo Wild Wings server forced her to prove gender in restroom
A young biracial lesbian teenager who claims a server at a Buffalo Wild Wings forced her to prove her gender while in the women's bathroom earlier this year has filed a charge of discrimination against the popular chain restaurant, according to the nonprofit advocacy group Gender Justice. The incident unfolded in April when 18-year-old Gerika Mudra, a high-school student who is Black and Caucasian, was reportedly followed into the restroom at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Owatonna, Minnesota, a town about an hour south of Minneapolis. The gender-equality advocacy group, which filed the discrimination charge on behalf of the 18-year-old, alleges the server banged on the door of the stall Mudra was in and said, 'This is a woman's restroom. The man needs to get out of here.' Mudra, who is not transgender, claims she came out of the stall and told the server that she was a female, but was again told that she needed to get out of the restroom immediately. 'The employee blocked her from leaving until Mudra unzipped her hoodie to show she had breasts,' the organization said in a news release. 'Only then did the server relent.' The high school student, according to NBC News, said she has experienced similar issues in women's restrooms, though she added that when she says she's female, she's generally left alone. The encounter, she said, made her extremely uncomfortable and, like anyone else, she just wanted to be able to use a restroom in peace. 'After that, I just don't like going to public restrooms. I just hold it in,' she explained. The discrimination charge was filed with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, with Gender Justice arguing the incident violated the state's Human Rights Act, which provides protections against gender identity and sexual orientation-based discrimination among other statuses. Big Bear shop owner accused of psychedelic mushroom operation out of store Minnesota is one of 21 states, as well as Washington D.C., that prohibit discrimination in public accommodations based on gender identity and sexual orientation. 'We know Gerika was targeted because of how she looks, Shauna Otterness, the teen's stepmother, said. 'She didn't do anything wrong. She just didn't fit what that server thought a girl should look like. This shouldn't be normal. We can do better, and we have to.' KTLA has reached out to Inspire Brands, which represents the restaurant chain, for comment and is awaiting a response. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Teen Claims Buffalo Wild Wings Server Followed Her into the Bathroom and Forced Her to 'Prove' She's a Girl
Gerika Mudra, an 18-year-old high school student in Minnesota, has since filed a charge of discrimination against the restaurant NEED TO KNOW Gerika Mudra, an 18-year-old high schoolher, is fighting back after she says a Buffalo Wild Wings employee harassed her while she was in the women's bathroom On Aug. 12, Gender Justice said it filed a charge of discrimination with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights on the teen's behalf 'We know Gerika was targeted because of how she looks,' the girl's stepmom said A high school student is fighting back after a Buffalo Wild Wings employee allegedly followed her into the bathroom and wouldn't stop harassing her until the teen ended up unzipping her hoodie to "prove" she's a girl. On Tuesday, Aug. 12, Gender Justice filed a charge of discrimination with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) on behalf of 18-year-old high schooler Gerika Mudra, according to a press release from the nonprofit. Mudra, who is a biracial lesbian, according to NBC News, was eating at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Owatonna when she got up to use the bathroom. In a video released by Gender Justice, the teen said the server followed her into the bathroom and "came in yelling, 'This is a women's restroom, the man needs to get out.' " Mudra, who said this wasn't "the first time something like this happened" to her, claims that she told the server "I am a lady," but that the server responded, "You have to get out now." "I didn't know what to do," the teen said, alleging that she eventually unzipped her sweatshirt to show that she had breasts. Afterwards, the teen, who had a shirt underneath her hoodie, claimed the server "just walked out, didn't even apologize or anything." Buffalo Wild Wings did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. Now, Mudra says she won't return to the Buffalo Wild Wings location and that she no longer feels comfortable using public bathrooms in general. 'We know Gerika was targeted because of how she looks,' said Shauna Otterness, Mudra's stepmom. 'She didn't do anything wrong. She just didn't fit what that server thought a girl should look like,' Otterness continued. 'I was shocked and heartbroken by how many people shared similar stories after I posted about it online. This shouldn't be normal. We can do better, and we have to.' The legacy advocacy group went on to note that Mudra's experience "reflects a broader climate of fear and suspicion aimed at anyone who doesn't conform to narrow expectations of what girls and women 'should' look like." "While she is not transgender, the scrutiny and harassment she faced is unfortunately all too familiar to trans and gender expansive people, including masculine presenting queer women," they added. 'What happened to Gerika Mudra was not just wrong, it was unlawful,' added Sara Jane Baldwin, senior staff attorney at Gender Justice. 'Minnesota law protects people from exactly this kind of discrimination in public spaces. No one should be harassed, humiliated, or forced to prove themselves just to use the bathroom." Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. In filing a charge of discrimination with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, Mudra and her family hope to raise awareness about the agency and its role in protecting residents. 'The Minnesota Human Rights Act is clear: businesses have a legal duty to protect their customers from harassment and discrimination,' said Baldwin. 'That means providing staff with training, creating clear policies, and creating a culture that ensures every person is treated with respect and dignity. What happened to Gerika is exactly the kind of harm our laws are meant to prevent, and it's time businesses take those responsibilities seriously.' Mudra said she also wants others who have experienced harassment to know they aren't alone. 'It's okay [for them] to stick up for themselves, and be okay with who they are,' she said. Read the original article on People
The Hill
5 days ago
- The Hill
Teen says server demanded proof of gender in restaurant restroom
A Minnesota teenager filed a charge of discrimination Tuesday against a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant, accusing a server of following her into the women's restroom and demanding she 'prove' she was a girl. Gerika Mudra, an 18-year-old high school student, was dining with a friend at the chain restaurant's Owatonna, Minn., location in late April when a female server followed her into the bathroom and accused her of being 'a boy,' according to Gender Justice, the Minnesota-based nonprofit that filed the discrimination charge on Mudra's behalf. 'This is a women's restroom. The man needs to get out of here,' the server said while banging on the stall door, according to Gender Justice. The server blocked Mudra from exiting the restroom until she unzipped her hoodie to show that she had breasts. Buffalo Wild Wings did not respond to two emails seeking comment on the incident and the charge of discrimination, which Gender Justice filed with the state's Department of Human Rights. The charge alleges the restaurant violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act, one of the nation's strongest state civil rights laws that prohibits discrimination based on characteristics including sexual orientation and gender identity. 'What happened to Gerika Mudra was not just wrong, it was unlawful,' said Sara Jane Baldwin, senior staff attorney at Gender Justice, in a statement on Tuesday. 'Minnesota law protects people from exactly this kind of discrimination in public spaces. No one should be harassed, humiliated, or forced to prove themselves just to use the bathroom.' In a video released by Gender Justice, Mudra, who is biracial and not transgender, said this was not the first time she has been questioned about her gender in a public restroom. 'This wasn't the first time this has happened, but this is, like, the worst time,' she said. 'After that, I just don't like going in public bathrooms. Like, I just hold it in. I just keep thinking, 'I'm gonna keep getting harassed like this.'' Mudra's stepmother, Shauna Otterness, said what happened to Mudra was 'cruel and humiliating' and left her feeling 'enraged.' 'We know Gerika was targeted because of how she looks. She didn't do anything wrong. She just didn't fit what that server thought a girl should look like,' she said in a statement released by Gender Justice. 'I was shocked and heartbroken by how many people shared similar stories after I posted about it online. This shouldn't be normal. We can do better, and we have to.' Nineteen states have laws prohibiting transgender people from using facilities that match their gender identity in K-12 schools, and most also bar trans people from entering restrooms consistent with their gender identity in government-owned buildings, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit that tracks LGBTQ laws. A measure to bar trans students from bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity failed to advance in the Minnesota legislature in 2017. 'This kind of gender policing is, unfortunately, nothing new. And yet, in our current climate we have to ask: What if Gerika had been a trans person?' said Megan Peterson, executive director at Gender Justice. 'Would this story have ended differently? That's the terrifying reality too many trans people live with every day.' 'Gerika's story sits at the intersection of anti-LGBTQ+ panic, racism, and rigid gender norms and stereotypes,' Peterson said. 'A growing culture of suspicion and control is targeting trans, gender-nonconforming, and Black girls and women—anyone who doesn't match narrow ideas of how women should look or behave. When people are harassed just for existing, none of us are truly safe.'
Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Miami Herald
Buffalo Wild Wings worker made high schooler ‘prove' she's a girl, activists say
An 18-year-old high schooler was forced by a Buffalo Wild Wings worker to 'prove' she is a girl inside the women's restroom of the Minnesota restaurant, according to a non-profit. Gender Justice, a nonprofit organization that focuses on gender equity law, has now filed a discrimination charge with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights on behalf of Gerika Mudra. 'What happened to Gerika Mudra was not just wrong, it was unlawful,' Sara Jan Baldwin, senior staff attorney at Gender Justice, said in a statement. Mudra was at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Owatonna on Easter when she was followed into the restroom by a server, according to Gender Justice. The employee banged on her stall door and told Mudra she had to 'prove' she was a girl. The nonprofit said the worker blocked the exit and made Mudra unzip her hoodie to show she had breasts. Mudra complied in an encounter that left her mortified. Mudra is not transgender but said the incident is not the first encounter she has had over her gender. This one, however, was the worst, she said. 'She made me feel very uncomfortable,' Mudra said. 'After that, I just don't like going in public bathrooms. I just hold it in.' McClatchy News reached out to Buffalo Wild Wings on Aug. 13 and was awaiting a response. Shauna Otterness, Mudra's stepmother, said in a news release she believes her stepdaughter was 'targeted because of how she looks.' But in Minnesota, it is illegal for public accomodations to discriminate on the basis of 'gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, sex, or race.' Megan Peterson, executive director at Gender Justice, said the incident involving Mudra is 'nothing new.' 'And yet, in our current climate we have to ask: What if Gerika had been a trans person?' Peterson said. 'Would this story have ended differently? That's the terrifying reality too many trans people live with every day.' Gender Justice said Mudra's experience from Buffalo Wild Wings is one that transgender and gender-nonconforming people deal with often. 'I want people to know they're not alone. They're not the only people this happens to,' Mudra said. 'It's OK to stick up for yourselves and be who you are.
Newsweek
5 days ago
- Newsweek
Teen Says She Was Forced to Prove Her Gender in Public Bathroom
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. An advocacy group filed a charge of discrimination on behalf of 18-year-old Gerika Mudra after a Buffalo Wild Wings server allegedly followed her into a women's restroom in Minnesota and accused her of being a male. The server left only after Mudra showed she had breasts, according to advocacy group Gender Justice. The group said Mudra is a biracial lesbian teenager, and she is not transgender. Newsweek reached out to Inspire Brands, which owns Buffalo Wild Wings, for comment. Stock image: A women's restroom sign. Stock image: A women's restroom sign. photovs/Getty Images Why It Matters Judicial Watch said the incident reflects growing fear and suspicion fueled by anti-transgender rhetoric, political attacks and misinformation. The group said the environment has encouraged policing of bodies and identities. Establishments open to the public in Minnesota cannot discriminate based on gender identity or expression under state law. What To Know Mudra told KTTC that she went to eat at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Owatonna in April. Jess Braverman, legal director at Judicial Watch, said a server came into the bathroom while Mudra was inside and banged on the stall door. The server accused Mudra of being a male in the women's room and forced her out of the stall, according to Braverman. Braverman said Mudra was not allowed to leave the bathroom until she unzipped her hoodie and showed that she had breasts. Mudra told KTTC that the server left the bathroom without apologizing. Gender Justice filed a charge of discrimination with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights on Mudra's behalf, which is a written statement alleging discrimination and not a lawsuit. What People Are Saying Gerika Mudra, charging party, in a video posted by Gender Justice: "She made me feel very uncomfortable. Now, after that, I just don't like going in public bathrooms. I just hold it in." Jess Braverman, legal director at Gender Justice, in a video posted by the advocacy group: "It's really upsetting, it should never happen to anyone. Our client's only 18 years old, she's still in high school." Megan Peterson, executive director at Gender Justice, in a statement: "Gerika's story sits at the intersection of anti-LGBTQ+ panic, racism, and rigid gender norms and stereotypes." What Happens Next The charge has been filed with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, an agency tasked with upholding the Minnesota Human Rights Act and investigating charges of discrimination. Do you have a story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have any questions about this story? Contact LiveNews@
