(UPDATE 6/12/2018) The Beacon Center has now filed a lawsuit over Tennessee law that requires someone to have a high school degree to get a barber’s license.
The Beacon Center released the following statement:
The Beacon Center recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of aspiring Memphis barber Elias Zarate based on the unconstitutional law that requires barbers to have a high school degree as a prerequisite to getting a barber’s license. The Beacon Center has filed suit against the Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barbers Examiners and its members in order to eliminate this unfair regulation.
Braden Boucek, Director of Litigation for the Beacon Center said, “Elias Zarate is the personification of the American Dream. Despite overcoming so many obstacles, including having to raise and financially support his younger siblings when his mom passed away and dad left, the state has decided that he cannot be a barber just because he doesn’t have a high school degree. Elias had to drop out of school to take care of his family and the state of Tennessee is punishing him for it. We asked the state legislature to fix this last session, but because they failed to act, we are forced to take it to court so that good, hard-working people like Elias can earn an honest living.”
Boucek went on to note, “Tennessee does not require Emergency Medical Responders or even cosmetologists who also cut and style hair to have a high school degree. Anybody who can perform lifesaving interventions should be able to cut hair. Nothing you learn in high school has anything to do with barbering in the first place. This is an arbitrary law that hurts people, and yet another example of licensing having absolutely nothing to do with health and safety, but rather a way to restrict competition. We’re fighting for Elias to eliminate this senseless law.”
To read more about Elias Zarate’s case, click here.
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(Original Story 1/23/2018)
Right now, if you want to become a barber in Tennessee, you have to be a high school graduate. Now, a government watchdog group wants to eliminate that requirement.
A Memphis man is at the center of their cause. The 28-year-old man is Elias Zarate.
His mom died when he was 10. His dad went to prison a short time later. Eventually, Zarate dropped out of high school and began cutting hair to take care of his younger siblings. Problem is, he didn’t have a license.
“I wanted to give my brother and sister a better life,” said Zarate.
Zarate worked at a downtown Memphis barber shop until last year, when inspectors told him he had to stop because he didn’t have a license.
Zarate says he didn’t know it was required, but now that he does, he is more than willing to go to barber school. But he can’t do that, because he doesn’t have a high school diploma.
“I think it’s unfair. I think if the laws were changed, it could not only create opportunity for me, but other underprivileged kids,” said Zarate.
Braden Boucek is a lawyer with the Beacon Center. The Beacon Center is focusing on reforming occupational licensure laws in Tennessee, including the high school requirement for barbers.
“This isn’t one throwback law from a bygone era. This law was passed in 2015 with almost no discussion whatsoever,” said Boucek. “Nobody should have to have a high school degree just to cut hair.”
The Beacon Center sent a letter to the state on behalf of Zarate and others who can’t get into barber school because they don’t have high school diplomas, asking the law be reformed.
As for Zarate, since he can no longer cut hair, he is trying to keep his family afloat.
Last year, the Beacon Center challenged the state’s requirement to have a license to shampooing hair, and the legislature eliminated it.
