The Montezuma County Fair Board disqualified a 12-year-old girl from competing in its Poultry Showmanship Show back on July 28 because she wore a ball cap. The board insisted to her parents that they follow the Colorado’s State Fair’s rule book on their dress code, although the fair has its own dress code.
Where and how did this go wrong?
Historically, girls weren’t allowed to wear hats – many times still aren’t allowed to wear hats in competitions - though the fair’s rule book did not mention that hats were not allowed in the 4-H/FFA fowl section’s dress code. Two boys who wore brim hats competed with her in the same show while continuing on with the competition.
With a lot of questioning and digging, Mike Rubin found that the fair’s rule book didn’t include anything about hats under the 4-H/FFA Fowl section, though most other livestock sections included dress codes. The local fair rules only state that showmanship contestants must be in “appropriate attire.”
Although his daughter previously participated in 4-H during the past four years and had great experiences, Rubin said he believes his daughter was discriminated against. In response, the fair board claimed that they follow the Colorado State Fair’s guidelines for dress codes, which indeed says no ball caps and hats allowed. If hats are not authorized in the Colorado State Fair’s dress code, why were the boys with hats permitted to continue on with the competition?
According to Rubin, no state or local fair policy asserts that the fair board must disqualify someone. He said the “MCFB made the arbitrary decision to disqualify the female contestant instead of a more appropriate penalty, such as a warning.”
In fact, the fair rule book states, “The Board reserves the right to amend or add to these rules, as it, in its judgment, may deem advisable.”
Additionally, the Friday that the board disqualified his daughter, Rubin broke a rule where they removed his daughter’s animals before they were allowed to be released on that Sunday at 10 a.m. The resulting penalty was forfeiture of all premiums and ribbons if any animal was removed before that Sunday.
“Instead of having our daughter suffer further humiliation, we removed her animals the day she was disqualified,” Rubin said. “I couldn’t let my daughter go back there to feed the animals. The fair board in turn retaliated and barred our daughter for two years from competing at the fair.”
Rubin said he immediately brought up the concerns to the Montezuma County Fair Board about how his daughter was treated.
The board told him that they had given one of the boys permission in advance to wear a hat.
Both boys kept their championships and continued on to compete in the Showmanship, where one of them won the Grand Champion placement and the other participated in the auction.
According to Rubin, his daughter had already won the Market Poultry Champion Roaster Pen – consisting of three chickens that weigh 6.1 pounds to 9 pounds each – but the board took away her ribbon.
That’s when “the Fair Board, specifically Tammy Hampton, told us they were taking away her Market Roaster Championship for wearing a hat,” he said.
During the board’s agreement process, Rubin said the board told him to meet them on the stage of the main pavilion on the day of the disqualification. When he arrived, police officers waited while the board had a closed-door grievance process that he wasn’t allowed to attend.
“Only applying this punishment to one female participant is the definition of disparate treatment by the board. When I submitted my official grievance to the MCFB, they had the sheriff deputies waiting for me. The process had zero transparency or documentation to prove it was fair,” Rubin said. “All the deputies did was listen to our discussion/argument but did have to get the board’s vice president, T.W. Gilliland, to calm down after he jumped out of his chair aggressively.”
The Cortez Police Department’s computer aided dispatch report states that the officers were sent to the fairgrounds because a “disgruntled parent” was on their way to file a grievance and the board requested officers to keep the peace during the process.
The board also barred his daughter from competing at the 4-H Montezuma County Fair for the next two years because they took the animals away early, on the day they disqualified her.
Rubin said he spoke to the Board of County Commissioners, the city administrator and city attorney on Aug. 8 about his daughter’s treatment.
“I suggested they investigate or I would seek legal means for a remedy. They had no questions or comments and I have not heard anything since then,” he said in an email.
As it stands now, Rubin said he filed a formal complaint with The State of Colorado Civil Rights Division. They assigned an Investigator and notified the fair board that they have until Oct. 7 to agree on mediation or a formal investigation by the state will be compelled. Both he and The State of Colorado Civil Rights Division declined to provide The Journal a copy of the complaint.
The Journal has contacted the Montezuma County Fair Board but has not received a response.
