The owner of a local pizza joint has formally apologized for discriminating against a female job applicant because of her gender.

“Unfortunately, we made a mistake when we decided not to consider your résumé because of your sex,” Kathleen Lundgaard, the owner of Tony’s Pizza, said in a written apology to Georgina Dawson.

“It was not our intention to offend you or anyone. We want to make this right, and to restore our relationship with you and with the community.”

Last November, Lundgaard posted on the restaurant’s Facebook page that she was looking to hire a pizza chef.

When Dawson commented that she’d applied “a long time ago,” Lundgaard replied: “I would prefer to have a male in the kitchen, less distraction for the other male employees.”

That response was greeted by social media furor and threats of a Tony’s Pizza boycott.

Dawson filed a complaint with the Yukon Human Rights Commission.

“I pursued the complaint because I felt strongly that it is our responsibility as community members to speak up when discrimination happens,” Dawson said in a statement. “For my daughter and all women, I had to speak up.”

Commission director Jessica Thompson said both parties were willing to work together to come to a resolution.

The goal is not to punish or reward either side, but rather to help make the complainant “whole” again.

“Ms. Lundgaard and Ms. Dawson both engaged in the human rights process in good faith and openness,” Thompson said.

“The commission does a lot of quiet good work in the community like this. This matter happened to have already been out in the public eye on social media and, as a result, both parties felt it was appropriate to share with the community the positive way that it ended.”

Tony’s Pizza will continue to work with the human rights body to improve its employment policies.

Thompson said the commission is willing to offer information and free assistance to any Yukon employer in learning more about fair practices in the workplace. “We are here to help,” she said.