Schwarze v. Clark

1940 OK 480, 107 P.2d 1018, 188 Okla. 217, 1940 Okla. LEXIS 428
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedDecember 3, 1940
DocketNo. 29737.
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 1940 OK 480 (Schwarze v. Clark) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schwarze v. Clark, 1940 OK 480, 107 P.2d 1018, 188 Okla. 217, 1940 Okla. LEXIS 428 (Okla. 1940).

Opinion

DAVISON, J.

Plaintiff in error is owner of the Schwarze Barber College located in Oklahoma City, Okla. He conducted the school under authority of a permit issued by the State Board of Barber Examiners, defendants in error. For purposes of clarity and convenience, plaintiff in error will hereinafter be referred to as “plaintiff” and defendants in error will be referred to as the “board.”

An order revoking this permit was made on November 13,1939, by the board on the grounds that the plaintiff was operating the barber school in violation of article 3, and sec. 12, art. 2, chap. 24, S. L. 1936-1937; and rule 8, adopted by the board for the purpose of governing the conduct of such a school or college.

In compliance with legislative enactment, the plaintiff appealed from the board’s order of revocation to the district court of Oklahoma county, which affirmed the action of the board. That decision is now before this court for review.

To save time and avoid examination of witnesses in the trial court, it was stipulated and agreed that students in the school had been rendering barber work to the general public and charging therefor; that the prices charged were below the minimum scale fixed for such work in Oklahoma City by the State Board of Barber Examiners. Of the money received by the operator of the school, a part was retained and a portion returned *218 to the students performing the work, thereby benefiting both, directly and indirectly. It was this practice of charging for student work which led to revocation of plaintiff’s permit.

Plaintiff contends that the rules and regulations established by the board are arbitrary and unreasonable and abridge section 2, art. 2; section 7, art. 2; and section 32, art. 2, of the Constitution of Oklahoma, as well as the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Rule 8 is the only one specifically designated. It reads:

“Students shall not be allowed to charge compensation directly or indirectly for services rendered in any Barber School or College in the State of Oklahoma.”

The power of the board to establish rules and regulations for barber schools and colleges is described in section 6, art. 3, chap. 24, S. L. 1936-1937, 59 Okla. St. Ann. § 88. This section reads in part:

“The Board of Barber Examiners shall have authority to adopt and enforce reasonable rules and regulations governing the conduct of such schools or colleges. * *

The same, section empowers the board to withhold and revoke permits in the following words:

“The said board may refuse to issue such permit or may revoke a permit to operate such a school or college for failure to comply with any of the provisions of this act or the rules and regulations adopted by the Board pursuant thereto.

In determining whether the permit of plaintiff was wrongfully revoked, it is necessary to examine' the laws which the board alleges were being violated. Section 1, art. 3, chap. 24, S. L. 1936-1937, 59 Okla. St. Ann. § 69, reads:

“Any person practicing the trade of barber or apprentice barber, without having at the time a valid unrevoked certificate, as provided in this act, or any person who, as owner, lessee, manager, or any other supervisory capacity, employs a person practicing the trade of barber or apprentice barber without such person having a valid, unrevoked certificate as a barber or apprentice barber, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemean- or. * * *” (Emphasis ours.)

Whether a person attending a barber college which charges for student work remains merely a student, unaffected by these regulations, or becomes one “practicing the trade of barber” is one of the primary issues. Barbering is defined by section 4334, O. S. 1931, 59 Okla. St. Ann. § 70, as follows:

“Any one or any combination of the following practices, when done upon the upper part of the human body for cosmetic purposes and when done for payment either directly or indirectly for the general public, constitutes the practice of barbering, to wit: Shaving or trimming the beard or cutting the hair. * * *” (Emphasis ours.)

In view of this statute, when a student performs any of the enumerated practices “for payment, either directly or indirectly,” he is undertaking the practice of barbering and is subject to the laws relating to the barber profession which, among other things, forbid the practice of said profession without a certificate. Upon taking a panoramic view of the statutory provisions already considered, it is readily seen that rule 8 is supplementary to and in accord with Oklahoma statutes relating to the tonsorial profession. To hold the rule unreasonable would be to allow unlicensed students to perform services of the same kind, though perhaps not of as high a quality, as those of licensed barbers, without complying with statutory provisions governing such work. With such a rule, the compensated service of the student becomes amenable to the same regulations which apply to services of the licensed barber.

As a basis for revoking plaintiff’s permit it was alleged that he was violating section 12, art. 2, chap. 24, S. L. 1936-1937, by charging less than the minimum price established for barber work. This section was upheld as constitutional in Herrin v. Arnold, 183 Okla. 392, 82 P. 2d 977; see, also, Jarvis v. State Board of Barber Examiners et al., 183 Okla. *219 527, 83 P. 2d 560; Vandervort v. Keen, 184 Okla. 121, 85 P. 2d 405.

Since by stipulation of the parties it is established that the students of the plaintiff’s college have been employed under his supervision in the kind of work for which section 1, art. 3, chap. 24, _ supra, requires a certificate, he has thereby subjected himself to the operation of section 6 of said act, and the order complained of is in conformity with the law.

Plaintiff contends that rule 8 deprives the students of the gains of their industry and violates section 2, art. 2, of the Oklahoma Constitution. It was held by this court in Nation v. Chism, 154 Okla. 50, 6 P. 2d 766, that:

“The right to labor or earn one’s livelihood in any legitimate field of industry or business is a right of property, and any unlawful or unreasonable interference with or abridgment of such right is an invasion thereof, and a restriction of the liberty of the citizen as guaranteed by the Constitution.”

Regarding this holding, it was said in Herrin v. Arnold, supra:

“The foregoing statement is true, of course, as to any legitimate occupation, and it will be noted that the barrier is against any unlawful or unreasonable interference or abridgment of the right and not against any interference or abridgment of the right. * * *”

That statutes requiring persons engaged in barbering to possess a license or certificate are constitutional, and that the barber trade is subject to reasonable regulation is well settled. For authorities, see annotation in 20 A. L. R. 1111, which is supplemented by annotation in 98 A. L. R. 1089.

Plaintiff further contends that rule 8 tends to create a monopoly, thereby violating section 32, art.

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Bluebook (online)
1940 OK 480, 107 P.2d 1018, 188 Okla. 217, 1940 Okla. LEXIS 428, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schwarze-v-clark-okla-1940.