Madelyn Sheaffer Kicked Out of MO Water Park for Revealing Swimsuit
Madelyn Sheaffer was visiting Adventure Oasis Water Park in Independence, Mo. Tuesday with family members when she was asked by employees and a supervisor to cover up. The 43-year-old, who had recently lost 100 pounds, was wearing too revealing of a bikini, so employees asked her to put on shorts, but she refused.
Madelyn Sheaffer didn't take the incident lightly, as she claimed other, younger women in the park were wearing similar outfits and weren't asked to leave. Sheaffer had just gotten into the pool with her niece and nephew when employees approached her, so she asked them to call police to she could lodge a complaint.
"I just felt like I was singled out," she told KSHB-TV. "I felt like it was both age and body discrimination and I felt like I could look around me and I could see a handful of other girls half my age, wearing the same size swimming suit and not being singled out and told to put on clothes or leave."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Employees claimed that the bottom half of her bikini was simply too small, and the assistant to the City Manager told the Huffington Post "the facility made the call and we rely on their judgment."
When police arrived, they informed Sheaffer she would have to leave the park because it was city-owned and not a private institution.
"'We can't actually say anything,' they said as we walked outside (as it is a city owned park), ..but I hope from the expressions on our face you can tell how we feel,'" she recounted on her Facebook.
Sheaffer also claims to have received support from hundreds of fans from around the world after being kicked out of the water park.
"In addition to other countries already mentioned, I have now heard from Greece, China, Hong Kong...and received over 500 beautiful letters from Brazil. I have been wanting to see the world, and now the world is coming to me, and sending much Love," she wrote on Facebook.
The city of Independence reiterated that they did not feel they discriminated against Sheaffer.
