Barbara Sanderson, 45, a divorced mother who lives in the area of Hurontario St. and Bristol Rd. with her two teenaged children, is the second person to complain to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario in recent weeks about John Sit, owner of the New Locomotion Strip Club on Matheson Blvd.
Both she and Kimberlee Ouwroulis, 44, say they were fired from the club because they were too old.
Both cases are now before the tribunal, but a hearing date has yet to be set for either.
Sanderson, who used the stage name Bridgette, has been dancing since 2001. She worked at Locomotion for seven months. But, on June 13, she claims she was terminated because she received some bad reviews from customers who called her "old and ugly."
"They pulled the rug out from under me," Sanderson said Thursday (Nov. 6). "I was earning my way and given every indication that I was doing a great job until they canned me."
Sanderson, who now works at an airport-area strip club, said the manager of the establishment had written a letter of reference for her to secure the mortgage on her home just a month before she was fired.
"He said in the letter I was an ideal employee with a great future at the club, and then all of a sudden, I get fired," she said.
None of the allegations have been proven.
Sit hasn't returned more than a dozen phone messages left by The News.
Earlier this fall, Ouwroulis filed a similar complaint against Sit.
"He told me that the club is going in a new direction with younger girls," Ouwroulis said. "That's age discrimination to me."
The complaint, filed Sept. 16 to the tribunal, alleges that Sit got rid of Ouwroulis back on June 6 because of her age. The complaint also names other dancers as witnesses.
Ouwroulis, who goes by the stage name Kristy, has been dancing for four years. She worked at Locomotion for most of those four years and is now employed at an east-end strip club.
The Tribunal's mandate is to resolve applications brought under the Ontario Human Rights Code.
Ouwroulis will be seeking close to $100,000 in her application. She said she earned close to $8,000 a month while at Locomotion and was one of the hardest-working and most-liked employees.
"I was the older girl but the girl who looked great," she said. "I was never in trouble at work. I've never been reprimanded. I don't have a criminal record ... I am just a professional worker who takes dancing very seriously."
lrosella@mississauga.net
