Teen’s experience at local restaurant brings discrimination charge

An Owatonna restaurant is at the subject of discrimination charges filed Tuesday with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.

Gender Justice, a nonprofit agency whose mission is to advance gender equity through the law, filed the charge on behalf of Gerika Mudra, against the Owatonna Buffalo Wild Wings.

Mudra, 18, was having dinner there with a friend in April when she left to use the bathroom. A server followed her into the women’s restroom, pounded on the stall door and demanded she prove she belonged there, the filing says.

The employee reportedly blocked Mudra from leaving until she unzipped her hoodie to reveal her breasts; she had a shirt on under the hoodie.

Mudra, who was born a female, has said she was “scared, trapped and humiliated.”

“What happened to Gerika Mudra was not just wrong, it was unlawful,” said 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.”

According to the nonprofit, 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.

“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.”

Black girls and women also face “relentless policing” of their appearance and identity, the organization says. Mudra is biracial.

“Gerika’s story sits at the intersection of anti-LGBTQ+ panic, racism, and rigid gender norms and stereotypes,” said Peterson. “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.”

“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. 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.”

By filing with the MDHR, Gender Justice and the Mudra family hope to raise awareness about the agency’s role in protecting Minnesotans from discrimination.

“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.”