TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Three years after a Facebook post turned a Traverse City hair salon into the center of a statewide legal battle, the Michigan Civil Rights Commission has ruled against Studio 8 Hair Lab owner Christine Geiger, finding that her social media posts violated Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA).
The Commission concluded Geiger unlawfully advertised that transgender and gender- nonconforming individuals would be denied service and that she retaliated against three people who filed discrimination complaints by later suing them.
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The controversy began in July 2023 when Geiger posted that anyone identifying “as anything other than a man/woman” was not welcome at her salon and suggested they “seek services at a local pet groomer.” The post quickly drew national attention – and eventually a legal fight that’s still unfolding.
Complaints spark a legal chain reaction.
Within days of the Facebook post, Traverse City residents L. Maynard and M. Harris filed discrimination complaints with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, alleging Studio 8 had violated ELCRA by advertising that transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals would be denied service. A third complainant filed a similar complaint about two months later. Those complaints ultimately became the administrative case that culminated in this week’s Commission ruling.
Geiger continued to make similar posts and also later responded by filing her own lawsuit in Grand Traverse County Circuit Court against the three complainants, adding the Michigan Department of Civil Rights and the City of Traverse City as defendants to the lawsuit, alleging her constitutional rights – including her rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion – had been violated. The circuit court dismissed her claims, setting the stage for the appeal that remains pending before the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Commission throws the book at Studio 8.
The Michigan Civil Rights Commission, in a decision handed down on July 27, ordered Geiger to remove the posts, stop making similar statements, complete civil rights training within 120 days, and pay attorney fees tied both to the administrative case and her unsuccessful lawsuit against the complainants.
Commission Chair Luke Londo said, “We wanted to be comprehensive with the penalty. Make sure that any avenue you might think she doesn’t have to comply with Elliott-Larsen is something we addressed.” Londo also said the ruling marks the first time a Michigan tribunal has interpreted Elliott- Larsen’s advertising provision, adding that the law applies whether a business advertises in a newspaper or on Facebook.
A threat against a license.
The Commission also referred the matter to Michigan’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) and the Board of Cosmetology, which could consider additional disciplinary action, including possible license sanctions.
Michigan News Source reached out to Geiger’s attorney David Delaney and he said, “This case is about what someone said. Not what someone did. The government made a finding of discrimination regarding a two sentence Facebook post.”
He went on to say, “The owner of the business is a Christian who believes that God created male and female and he blessed them. Because of the owner’s religious beliefs and the desire to affect cultural narrative regarding gender that contradicts those beliefs, Studio 8 wants to use its talents and expressive platform they have in Studio 8 to celebrate and promote God’s design for male and female.”
Delaney added, “Public-accommodation laws regulate conduct. Public-accommodation laws do not target speech but instead prohibit the act of discriminating against individuals in the provision of publicly available services. Speech is not an act of discrimination. This case involves pure speech. No individual was denied a public service. At the hearing, Studio 8 was not allowed to defend itself with the U.S. Constitution. The Constitutional rights of free speech, freedom of religion, a jury trial, were prohibited. This is the reason 250 years ago the United States of America declared independence from the tyranny of the King.”
Delaney said he intends to appeal the Civil Rights Commission’s decision to the Grand Traverse County Circuit Court, the next step for challenging the administrative ruling. At the same time, Geiger’s separate appeal stemming from the dismissal of her constitutional lawsuit remains pending before the Michigan Court of Appeals. In other words, this legal battle is far from over.
