A local restaurant owner says she will consider all job applications that come in regardless of whether a man or woman is applying.

She is also apologizing for any offence that occurred with a comment made on Facebook.

A number of locals say they will boycott Tony’s Pizza after a post – that has since been taken down – on Tony’s Facebook page.

The restaurant initially posted a status advertising for a pizza chef.

When a woman stated in a comment that she had already applied “a long time ago,” Tony’s replied by stating: “I would prefer to have a male in the kitchen, less distraction for the other male employees.”

It’s a comment that raised the ire of a number of Yukoners arguing on Facebook it is sexist and discriminatory. Many go on to state they will be boycotting the local pizza shop in light of the comment.

Others offering comments say the initial remark was taken out of context and defend the restaurant, including an opinion from a female employee who praises the work environment there. Others have pointed out there are a number of other workplaces that follow similar suit in their employment practices.

“If I could take it back, I would,” Kathleen Lundgaard, Tony’s co-owner, said in an interview Tuesday afternoon. “People who know us know we’re not like that.”

Noting that she doesn’t recall even seeing the résumé of the woman who said she had applied for the job, Lundgaard said she made the comment based on past experience.

Right now, all the other positions in the kitchen are staffed by men, she explained.

While she’d love to have a woman working there, in the past when she’s hired female staff for the kitchen, they’ve complained about “being picked on” by the male employees.

It is primarily men who apply for jobs in the kitchen and thus have primarily been hired. While some women have worked in the kitchen’s restaurant during its 13-year history and have worked out well, others haven’t.

Lundgaard said she has come to the defence of the female staff in the past, and has worked to rectify the situation and create a better workplace for both men and women, but the situation seems to recur.

She noted she wouldn’t want a new employee feeling uncomfortable in a kitchen where all other employees are male.

Lundgaard also noted the restaurant has had an issue with female workers who don’t show up for shifts or who quit shortly after starting to work there.

She also acknowledged that such situations haven’t always been limited to female employees.

Lundgaard also said the job has been posted for a number of months while she and her husband had worked 10- to 12-hour days to deal with the short-staffing issue.

Had the right candidate come along – male or female – she said, the restaurant would hire the person.

Other restaurant kitchens throughout the country are also dominated by male employees, Lundgaard noted, stating her belief that ideally, it would be more co-ed.

Asked for her response to customers boycotting the restaurant, Lundgaard said it’s their choice to go elsewhere.

She also noted her hope that one comment on social media wouldn’t tarnish the 13 years her family has spent building the Copper Road business and its reputation.

While she acknowledged that “what’s done is done,” Lundgaard said those familiar with her family and the restaurant know the Facebook status doesn’t represent who the family is and the business they run. It was an “isolated” thing, she said.

While many on Facebook have talked of boycotting the restaurant, Blake Lepine has taken it one step further with an email to the Yukon Human Rights Commission to complain about the comment.

Lepine told the Star Tuesday it’s clear discrimination.

“It needs to be addressed,” he said of the decision to take up the issue with the commission.

Beyond finding the post “infuriating,” he argued it shows the restaurant clearly caters to its male employees.

Since he posted his complaint to the commission on his Facebook page, he said he’s heard from past employees of the restaurant supporting the move and offering their experience.

The commission, however, may not be able to investigate the complaint.

Heather MacFadgen, its human rights director, said she could not speak specifically to it as such matters are treated as confidential until they’ve been dealt with or go to the board of adjudication for a decision.

Under its legislation, she said, complaints must come from the person who was discriminated against.

The board of adjudication is an independent panel with members appointed by the legislature which conducts public hearings into complaints that can’t be settled or in special circumstances where the commission refers the matter to the board.

The Yukon Human Rights Act states: “It is discrimination to treat any individual or group unfavourably on any of the following grounds:

(a) ancestry, including colour and race;

(b) national origin;

(c) ethnic or linguistic background or origin;

(d) religion or creed, or religious belief, religious association, or religious activity;

(e) age;

(f) sex, including pregnancy, and pregnancy-related conditions;

(g) sexual orientation;

(h) physical or mental disability;

(i) criminal charges or criminal record;

(j) political belief, political association or political activity;

(k) marital or family status;

(1) source of income;

(m) actual or presumed association with other individuals or groups whose identity or membership is determined by any of the grounds listed in paragraphs (a) to (1). S.Y. 2002, c.116, s. 7.

Section 9 of the act then notes a person can’t discriminate in a number of situations, including “.... in connection with any aspect of employment or application for employment.”

A further section sets out circumstances where treatment may be deemed as not being discrimination, including:

“(a) reasonable requirements or qualifications for the employment;

(b) a criminal record or criminal charges relevant to the employment;

(c) sex, so as to respect the privacy of the people to whom accommodations or a service or facility is offered.

MacFadgen said it takes an average of about 13 months to deal with a formal complaint, though she stressed as an average, cases can take a shorter or longer amount of time depending on the individual case.

There are a number of ways to deal with matters that come in, she said.

Those can range from a more informal resolution involving the parties to a formal investigation to going to the board of adjudication for a decision.

In cases where discrimination has been determined to have occurred, the commission can make orders to stop the discrimination, pay damages for financial loss and/or compensation for “injury to dignity, feelings or self-respect.”