JACKSON, Miss. (Legal Newsline) – A woman who wants to open a beauty shop in Mississippi is suing the state for making her complete hundreds of hours of training in order to do so.
Get Glam Beauty and owner Karrece Stewart filed suit in Jackson federal court on Aug. 31 against the state’s Board of Cosmetology and Attorney General Lynn Fitch.
Stewart says she is threatened with criminal penalties if she performs makeup services for weddings, proms and other occasions unless she completes at least 600 hours of training at a state-accredited esthetician or cosmetologist school.
“This government-mandated training would cost thousands of dollars and at least 15 weeks of her life,” the lawsuit says.
“Moreover, the mandatory curriculum, for the most part, has nothing to do with makeup.”
She challenges the requirement on Constitutional ground, claiming there is no rational reason for it. Retail employees can perform makeup services without the training thanks to an exemption, too.