Judge Issues TRO Against Houston Beauty School - TDLR Also Seeking Order to Close School for Selling Hours, Cheating on Tests
February 13, 2007
For Immediate Release
Contact: Patrick Shaughnessy
512-463-3208
AUSTIN – Victorian Beauty School in Houston became known across the country as a place to enroll if you wanted to become a Texas cosmetologist, but were unable or unwilling to attend beauty school. It also was a place where, for a price, you could hire someone to take your licensing exams for you.
Friday, a state District Court ordered the scheme to end. Judge Margaret Cooper of the 353rd District issued a temporary restraining order requiring the owners of Victorian Beauty College, 17017 Rolling Creek in Houston, to stop selling hours to students who do not attend classes, to stop cheating on the test and to refrain from threatening any witnesses against them.
In addition, Judge Cooper set a hearing for February 22 to consider a request by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) for a Temporary Injunction and an order that would revoke the cosmetology licenses of the school’s owners and employees who were involved in the scheme. Revocation of the school’s license would force the closure of Victorian, which is now operating under the new name Victorious Beauty College.
The temporary restraining order was sought by OAG at the request of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). Named in the complaint were the school, Lan Phuong Nguyen, individually and doing business as Vu Properties Inc., My Dinh Nguyen, Nhi (Mimi) Nga Phan, Thao Thi Phuong Nguyen, and Pegasus Domains Inc., doing business as Victorious Beauty College.
Applicants for cosmetology licenses in Texas are required to prove that they attended a cosmetology school for a specific number of instructional hours. After completing their training, applicants then must pass a written test that covers topics such as sanitation practices, proper use of chemicals, TDLR rules and state law. Applicants also must pass a practical test demonstrating their technical skills.
According to the school records acquired by TDLR investigators, Victorian has registered about 2,500 students during the past five years. Investigators believe that many of those students paid Victorian to certify instructional hours for them, but did not attend classes. Many of the so-called students did not live in Texas as records show students with home addresses in 25 states across the country. At least two students live in Hawaii.
Individuals from other states usually did not plan to practice cosmetology in Texas. Since cosmetology licensing requirements in Texas are more stringent than in most other states, those states often will give applicants a license based solely on their Texas license.
In as many as 92 cases, students paid employees of Victorian to actually take their licensing examinations for them.
PSI, the company that provides cosmetology license testing for TDLR, takes pictures of test takers both when they take their written exams and, later, their practical exams. The scheme came to light when a PSI employee compared the picture of an individual who came to take her practical exam with the picture taken earlier when the applicant had purportedly taken her written exam and discovered that the pictures did not match.
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