Federal lawsuit claims California's labor code discriminates against Vietnamese nail techs, salon owners
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana on Saturday, argues that only nail technicians are excluded from being classified as independent contractors due to a California law enacted in 2020.
Nail technicians, many of whom are Vietnamese-American, were also considered independent contractors before the law's passage. According to the suit, 'in California, approximately 82% of all nail manicurists/ pedicurists ('nail technicians') are Vietnamese American, and 85% of these are women.'
'The penalties for misclassifying a worker as an independent contractor are severe, and when the defendants, as heads of their enforcement agencies, enforce the new rule prohibiting nail technicians from being independent contractors, the damage to the plaintiffs will be severe and irreparable. In this regard, the salon plaintiffs will be forced out of business and will be forced to close their doors. In addition, the salon plaintiffs will be subject to significant assessments and financial penalties that will be impossible to pay,' the suit added.
California Assemblyman Tri Ta (R-Westminster) stated that he has introduced legislation, Assembly Bill 504, to restore equal rights to manicurists.
The labor law switch occurred in 2020, when AB 5, a law that altered the classification of workers as employees or independent contractors, took effect.
Before its passage, in 2018, the California Supreme Court changed the requirements companies must use to label their workers as independent contractors.
At the time, companies that opposed the bill waged a campaign to prevent its passage.
The businesses that filed the suit include multiple locations of Happy Nails & Spa, Holly and Hudson, and Blu Nail Bar.
'Since January, Vietnamese American manicurists have faced blatant discrimination under California's labor laws, stripped of the same rights and freedoms afforded to others in their industry,' Scott Wellman, attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. 'If the State of California refuses to fix this injustice, we are prepared to hold them accountable in federal court.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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