Commercial eyebrow threading regulations unconstitutional

The Texas Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, ruled that the requirements for commercial eyebrow threaders were too burdensome, and therefore, unconstitutional (Patel v. Texas Department of Licensing).

Justice Phil Johnson, in the majority opinion, opined that the 750 hours of training required for eyebrow threaders placed an undue burden on eyebrow threading professionals. Additionally, Johnson noted, much of the training eyebrow threaders receive has nothing to do with eyebrow threading.

“In the case of the threaders, the large number of hours not arguably related to the actual practice of threading, the associated costs of those hours in out-of-pocket expenses, and the delayed employment opportunities while taking the hours, make the number highly relevant to whether licensing requirements as a whole reach the level of being so burdensome that they are oppressive,” Johnson wrote.

Texas began regulating the practice of eyebrow threading—a practice popular in South Asian and Middle Eastern communities—in 2011.

The minimum requirement to become a licensed eyebrow threader in Texas would be to get an esthetician license, which would require at minimum 750 hours of training in a state-approved training program, costing as much as $9,000.

Regardless of the cost, Judge Johnson reiterated that the amount of hours required to become a licensed eyebrow threader was too burdensome to stand.

Chief Justice Nathan Hect, in a dissenting opinion, argued that the training requirement was not tyrannical, and that it taught licensees important general sanitary and safety practices.