A transgender discrimination complaint against a Niles, Ill. spa will move forward after a mediation between both parties failed to yield a resolution.
King Spa & Sauna is facing a discrimination complaint after the spa asked Levi Pine, a transgender man, to use a private shower facility instead of the men's showers.
Pine filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) against the spa late last year.
Both parties came together March 19 to try to reach a resolution before moving forward. The meeting was conducted through IDHR.
Pine said the mediation failed to produce an agreement.
"I asked them to either change their policy to allow trans and gender-non-conforming guests full use of all facilities, or to designate a regular time period (one day a week or one day a month) where LGBT people were permitted full use of the facilities, and where they would defend LGBT customers against potential complaints of others during those specific times," Pine said in a statement to Windy City Times.
Pine said he also suggested the spa build a gender-neutral facility and asked them to clarify their policy regarding trans and gender-variant people.
According to Pine, the spa offered to make a donation to an LGBT organization, but Pine declined.
King Spa did not respond to a request to comment.
John, a man who identified himself as a manager of the spa but did not give a full name, previously told Windy City Times that other guests had complained about Pine in the shower facilities and that he had tried his best to accommodate Pine fairly.
Pine, who attended the meeting with two friends, said he will move forward with the complaint in the wake of the meeting.
"I was angry, though not surprised," he said. "I was at times insulted and felt disrespected by the tone their lawyer took with me and my friends."