Apprenticeship sponsor challenges Board of Barbering and Cosmetology jurisdiction at OAH hearing

Apprenticeship sponsor Hierarch Barbering and Cosmetology asked an administrative panel June 2 to dismiss a notice to show cause, arguing the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology (BBC) lacks statutory authority over apprenticeship completion certificates and that jurisdiction instead rests with the Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS).

Why it matters: The committee's decision on whether the BBC can enforce completion forms affects how apprenticeship sponsors are regulated in California and whether complaints about completion certificates proceed at the BBC or through the DAS.

At a hearing before Administrative Law Judge Corin Wong and the Apprentice Appeal Committee (held via WebEx at the Office of Administrative Hearings), Marcus Larson, counsel for Hierarch and owner Jason Lee, opened with a threshold jurisdictional objection. "We are respectfully disputing jurisdiction of the BBC over this particular apprenticeship program and this enforcement action in particular," Larson told the panel, arguing the Shelly Maloney Act and related Labor Code provisions vest authority over apprenticeship programs and certificates of completion with DAS.

Larson cited Labor Code sections discussed during the hearing and argued that Title 8 and the Labor Code give the Division of Apprenticeship Standards the exclusive statutory predicate to issue or oversee apprenticeship completion certificates. "This apprenticeship program is governed by the Shelly Maloney Act ... the Labor Code at bottom grants the Division of Apprenticeship Standards jurisdiction over all of these programs," Larson said.

Deputy Attorney General Jeff Stone, representing the BBC, disagreed. Stone told the committee the BBC and DAS share responsibilities and that the board's regulations and statutes give it authority to monitor and act on apprenticeship programs tied to barbering and cosmetology. "When it comes to the operation of the apprenticeship program, it is this board that sets those standards by regulations, and it's this board that monitors that," Stone said in his opening response.

Judge Wong did not rule on the jurisdictional objection during the hearing. Instead, after argument from both sides, the judge took the jurisdictional objection under submission for the committee to decide in closed session. The judge also allowed the hearing to proceed on the merits while reserving a separate determination on the jurisdictional issue.

What to watch next: The committee will consider the jurisdictional question in closed session and issue a written decision later. That decision will determine whether the BBC may continue to adjudicate alleged deficiencies in Hierarch's apprentice completion forms or whether the matter belongs exclusively to DAS.

Speakers: Marcus Larson, counsel for Hierarch; Deputy Attorney General Jeff Stone (counsel for Board of Barbering and Cosmetology); Corin Wong (Administrative Law Judge, Office of Administrative Hearings).