Waxing controversy stirs local salon employees

Wax is the current hot topic, a national story that’s received local attention.

“It was an invasion of her privacy and a lot for someone to ask from their employee,” licensed aesthetician Lori Crete said.

Jennifer Finley of Pennsylvania saw just how personal waxing can get. She was part of a group of new hires, at the European Wax Center near Pittsburg, who had to give each other a brazilian wax — a waxing service that removes all the hair from the genital area. Finley said she refused and was fired immediately.

“I think I was the oldest. I feel like they were young and they just really needed a job and they just went along with it, but, really none of them wanted to go along with it,” Finley said.

Crete said she and a friend know this training tactic very well.

“We hired an aesthetician that had been doing them for a few years. I was the model while she watched, she was the model while I watched. It was pain and embarrassment all rolled into one big ball,” Crete said. “Nobody should ever be forced into something like that.”

Finley said she felt she got fired after refusing to bare it all to her colleagues, so she filed a lawsuit against the salon. The European Wax Company corporate office gave us this statement in part:

“…Since this is now a legal issue, there’s very little we can say…We can say however that the European Wax Center franchise system is absolutely committed to providing exceptional instruction for trainees.”