Barber accused of discrimination for refusing girl's haircut raises funds for mounting legal costs
A Sydney barber who is being sued for refusing to cut a little girl’s hair is now battling to raise money for his mounting legal costs.
Sydney father Sam Rahim owns a barber shop in Hunters Hill Village with his wife Rhonda.
On a GoFundMe page, he wrote that he had opened the business two years ago because the area needed a barber “and a lot of people were traveling [sic] far to get a cut."
His business is now being taken to court after saying no to a mother's request to give her little girl a haircut.
“As we are barbers and not hairdressers we were not qualified and did not have the skill to perform the cut,” Mr Rahim wrote.
“We are now facing court over the matter and have had a stressful time the past few months. The legal costs are more than we have ever anticipated.”
Mr Rahim claims the girl's mother is a lawyer, and he needs $50,000 to cover his legal costs.
The barber shop owner told local paper The Weekly Times he was approached by a Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission officer in December 2017 after the mother claimed his business had breached anti-discrimination laws.
But the matter has now been moved from being a discrimination case to a compensation hearing.
Mr Rahim added that he had offered apologies but they had not been accepted.
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The local community has rallied around Mr Rahim, with his Facebook business page garnering more than 370 five-star reviews.
“Brother, rating you five stars in show of full support of your current legal proceedings," one Facebook user wrote.
"I wouldn't go to a baker and demand they fix my car's engine; what gives that woman the right to demand you for something which you are not able to do?”
“Have spoken to some people who have been to your shop as a customer and they have nothing but absolute praise for your work, skill, and customer service," another person wrote.
One Facebook user, claiming to be from Scotland, said Mr Rahim “did the right thing,” while a woman from the US wrote she was behind the father “100 per cent”.
As of Monday, Mr Rahim has raised more than $6000 for his legal proceedings.
