Now, here's something you don't expect to happen in Canada: a woman from Owen Sound, Ontario, was fired from her job for shaving her head to raise money for cancer, and then refusing to wear a wig.

"I don't believe it," you're probably saying to yourself. "She was probably some radical, punked-out, over-pierced freakshow and the shaved head was just one freak too far."

But in fact, the woman is a married, 36-year-old mother of two who works as a waitress in a mid-priced restaurant. After shaving her head as part of a cancer fundraiser, she was told not to return to work until her hair grew back to an acceptable length, or wore a wig.

The owner of the restaurant is apparently very strict about appearance - male waitstaff can't wear earrings, for example - and said that customers would be 'appalled' if they were served by a bald-headed woman.

The most surprising thing about all of this is that when the media contacted the owner for a comment, he made it clear that he thought what he'd done was perfectly acceptable - it hadn't crossed his mind that the waitress could file a Human Rights complaint or that there would be any negative consequences.

However, thanks to all the media attention, the blogosphere is buzzing - and I have a feeling that Nathaniel's Restaurant is going to learn, first-hand, that there is a demonstrable economic cost to discrimination.