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History

hairHAIRDRESSER WINS BATTLE
AGAINST SEXIST STATUTES

1974: A federal judge last week declared the 50- yr-old Connecticut barbering statutes to be unconstitutional in a decision on a complaint by a Fairfield hairdresser that the statutes from his chamber in Hartford, U.S. District Court Judge Jon O. Newman announced his decision after deliberation on the briefs filed by the plaintiffs and the State. No fact-giving hearing was needed since it was strictly a legal matter.

Charles Tuozzoli, owner of HAIR, a salon and spa on South Pine Creek, triumphantly called the decision a landmark. Mr Tuozzoli filed a brief last month, [which states] the statutes prohibit hairdressers the right to serve male clientele while at the same time allowing barbers to serve both men and women, it denies him dual and equal protection under the law guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.

Assistant Attorney General F. Michael Ahern said the Attorney General's office must defend the actions of the Legislature whatever they are. He added he didn't know what reasons the lawmakers might have had in the 1920's for the distinctions between barbers and hairdressers in the barbering statutes.

"Men are more liberated now," said Tuozzoli. "You have to serve people in general, and the state should not set policy as to clientele."