Cancer patient turned away from business for wearing hat

INDIANAPOLIS (KABC) -- A woman celebrating the end of her chemotherapy treatment was turned away from an Indianapolis entertainment center because the knitted hat she was wearing did not meet the dress code.

Rachel Bruno wears a winter cap to avoid getting sick after chemotherapy left her bald. When she showed up at Latitude 360 on 82nd Street over the weekend, her celebration was cut short.

Latitude 360's employees believed the knitted cap violated the company's dress code, which prohibits skullcaps, bandanas, brimless hats and stocking caps.

"It's not her fault that she's had to deal with cancer a second time. When you try to go outside to have a few moments of enjoyment to try to feel better, and here you are turned away it's not fair," Bruno's sister Alicia Murray said Wednesday.

Embarrassed, Bruno says she asked to borrow her sister's car keys so she could sit outside and wait.

"I was irritated. It was all I could do not to stand there and cry while I was getting the keys from her just to go sit in the car. It's very embarrassing. It still kind of hurts," said Bruno, who posted her story on Facebook on Saturday.

Soon after, the business was bombarded by comments and feedback. An executive for the company has since apologized for what he calls an embarrassing mistake. He noted that while employees were following a policy, they got it wrong in this case.

"A public apology would be nice. It was publicly humiliating because you feel like you don't know who all is listening. I was embarrassed to be asked to leave based on a hat," Bruno said.

ABC News contributed to this report.