LV salon, barber shop take regulators to court

Grace Leong

Thursday, June 21, 2001 | 10:58 a.m.

A Las Vegas hair salon and spa chain is fighting the state in court over regulations it charges are unfair and discriminatory.

The dispute is over how much space Euphoria Hair Salon & Day Spas must devote to a planned barber shop area at one of its salons at 8850 W. Charleston Blvd. At issue also is whether a licensed barber for the salon has been working illegally as a hair stylist.

Joseph Lamarca, owner of the salon chain, which has 14 hair salons in the Las Vegas area, said the Nevada State Barber's Health and Sanitation Board denied his application for the barber room he requested because its location allegedly didn't meet the board's safety requirements.

Nevada state law says barbers, who want to work in a salon, must work in a room that is at least 100 square feet in size. The board said the room Lamarca wanted was about 90 square feet.

Eloy Maestas, the board's secretary/treasurer, said that while the board denied Euphoria's application for the room it had requested, the board offered to license another room within the salon that met its requirements. But Lamarca refused to consider this alternative option, he said.

Lamarca disagreed, saying the board's decision was an arbitrary one because it had in the past licensed other barber rooms that weren't 100 square feet in size.

"Basically, there's no difference between the room I wanted licensed and the room that the board wanted me to license, except that it would involve my displacing employees, which I don't intend to do," he said. "My room is about 95 square feet but he has licensed barbers in seven-by-nine square-feet rooms. So why wasn't it a health and safety issue then? Why doesn't he go and unlicense the ones the board made a mistake on?"

But Maestas disagreed.

"You have to have a minimum of 100 square feet to have a one-chair barber shop. That's a safety feature because when you shave, you have to have enough room to maneuver. But Euphoria wanted the room at the back of that salon, which had only about 90 square feet, because they wanted to use the back entrance."

"Just because we made mistakes in the past in licensing barber shops that don't have a minimum of 100 square feet, doesn't mean we have to continue to do so and we are trying to rectify the situation as much as we can," Maestas said. "A lot of times the barber shop owners falsify square footage for the room to meet our licensing requirements and the board assumes they are telling the truth."

Also in dispute is the status of Paula Perron, who is licensed as a barber and has admittedly been working illegally at the salon because it doesn't have a barber shop and because she isn't a licensed cosmetologist.

Unlike some other states, where cosmetology, which includes hair, skin and nail care, and barbering, which includes hair cutting, facial shaving, are regulated under one board, in Nevada, the two fields are regulated by separate boards.

So in order to work as a barber in a beauty salon, Perron has to either work in a room that has been approved by the Barber Board or be a licensed cosmetologist.

The Nevada State Board of Cosmetology, which regulates beauty salons and day spas, became involved in the dispute because Perron isn't a licensed cosmetologist.

Both barbers and cosmetologists provide hair cutting and styling services to both men and women.

But the main difference is that only barbers are allowed to provide shaves while only cosmetologists can provide manicures and make-up services.

"Perron's license as a barber is not in jeopardy, but her ability to work in that 90-square-foot room is in question because we've not approved it and won't approve it," Maestas said.

Perron, who said she provides both barbering and cosmetological services, including cutting and styling both men and women's hair, providing facial shaves, permanents and colored hair services, said having the two boards function as separate entities is an inconvenience.

But Mary Manna, the Cosmetology Board's executive secretary, defended the laws, saying "We have a number of salons that operate two businesses (a barber shop and a salon) successfully under one roof. Until the laws change, we have to enforce the current laws."

Euphoria and Perron have been cited by the Cosmetology board. "We were fined on April 13 by the Cosmetology board, which came and inspected the salon after the Barber Board told the Cosmetology Board that there is an unlicensed person working in the salon," Perron said.

But Manna disputed Perron's allegations.

"No one has paid a fine. Only citations have been issued so far to Paula Perron, who was working at the salon without a cosmetology license, and to Euphoria, which had an unlicensed person working there."

Perron said she is still working at the salon despite the Cosmetology Board's citation and the likelihood that she would be cited again.

"If I don't work, I am on the streets. Hiding under the bed won't help. I was told by Joe (Lamarca) to continue working because I have a contract with him."

She said she now intends to get a cosmetology license.

"I was a barber/stylist with City Lights salon previously, and the Barber Board approved the room there, which was eight feet by eight feet. Now I am working at a bigger and better room than the one at City Lights. I don't know why the Barber Board licensed that room and not the Euphoria one. The Barber Board is trying to ruin people's lives for no reason," she said.