A human rights case for the ages and it's unfolding right here in Toronto.

This is the story of Faith McGregor who went into the Terminal Barber Shop on Bay Street in June to get a men's-style haircut. The owner refused to do it.

Omar Mahrouk told her he is Muslim and his faith prohibits him from touching any woman who is not a member of his family. The other barbers said they too are Muslim.

McGregor has taken this to the Ontario Human Rights Commission claiming discrimination on the basis of gender.

The spokesman for the Commissioner Pascale Demers is quoted by the Star as saying "there's no hierarchy of rights under the legislation, so it's not about one right necessarily trumping the other. Demers believes this case could set an important precedent because as Ontario's population continues to diversify, she says "these things are bound to happen."

Mahrouk has said that if he is forced to cut women's hair, he will have to change his profession in order to accommodate his religion.

(files by D. Agar)