A Chicago couple, one of whom is a transgender woman, has filed a discrimination complaint against the local clothing chain Akira.
David Hartwell and his partner Jada Ayala, on Feb. 27, filed an Illinois Department of Human Rights complaint against the retailer, alleging that they were denied service because Ayala is transgender; they further allege that the stores' co-owner and founder, Eric Hsueh, mocked Ayala in a follow-up phone discussion with Hartwell. Hsueh denies any discrimination on his or the company's part.
According to the filing, Ayala, on Sept. 3, 2016, attempted to make a purchase at Akira's Water Tower Place location, but was not allowed to use Hartwell's credit-card to make the purchase, despite providing what the couple said was sufficient evidence authorizing Ayala's use, including phone and Facetime verifications, and a photo ID.
Employees invited the couple back to complete the purchase, Hartwell told Windy City Times. That seemed irregular to him since, in the course of his work as a photographer, he frequently has others use his credit card for various purchases.
When he and Ayala both returned to the store three days later and attempted to make another purchase, clerks again did not accept Hartwell's card.
"I asked, 'Is your machine broken? I can give you my debit card.' They said, 'No, we can't accept any cards from you,'" he said.
Hartwell alleges that a store clerk said the directive had come from the owner, and that the policy applied directly to them. He was given Hsueh's phone number and later phoned him.
According to Hartwell, during the conversation, Hsueh, in referring to Ayala, said that his "girlfriend, boyfriend, he, she, it, they, whatever they choose to be today, is a bad person and is crazy."
Hartwell and Ayala maintain that they were denied service because of Ayala's gender-identity, and that other customers' means of making purchases were not subject to similar scrutiny. The dispute between the store and the couple has been under mediation this summer.
Hsueh told Windy City Times that Hartwell's recollection of the phone conversation was "inaccurate" and maintained that Ayala was denied service first for trying to use someone else's credit card, and then for being verbally abusive to the store clerks.
"There reached a point where our managers felt they had a right to refuse service because someone was becoming so rude," he said. "It's not okay to just cuss and swear at employees."
He added that the idea of Ayala being discriminated against for being transgender was "ridiculous," and said that diversity "was at the core of what we believe in, for our employees and our teams. Our company is a company run by women and by minorities. It's ridiculous that that would be an issue [for Akira]."
