EASTHAMPTON — After a resident reported an anonymous sexual assault complaint against a tattoo shop employee, the city is working with artists to bolster local protections for clients and employees of body art establishments.
The complaint was made anonymously over the phone to the Health Department, according to Director of Public Health Ryan Griffin, who said in an email to the Gazette that the shop where the incident allegedly occurred took prompt and appropriate action to address the complaint.
Griffin said the owners of the establishment spoke with him shortly after the incident “on their own initiative,” informing him that the licensed employee accused of misconduct had been fired. Griffin said that the client was “adamant” about remaining anonymous and did not want to file a police report, adding that this is the only complaint he has received as health director regarding any permitted tattoo practitioner in Easthampton.
The complaint spurred Health Department officials to collaborate with several local tattoo artists to update current body art regulations, hosting two roundtable discussions in June.
“I have a great deal of confidence in Easthampton’s tattoo establishments,” Griffin wrote in his email, emphasizing that the incident is not a pattern of behavior in the city. “Every one we work with has been proactive and responsive … and genuinely cares about client and staff safety.”
Easthampton’s current regulations, adopted in 2019, were last amended in 2023. While the state has sample regulations for cities and towns to model, municipalities control the regulation of body art establishments and practitioners such as tattoo and piercing businesses.
In Massachusetts, body art practitioners and establishments must each secure a Body Art permit from their local Board of Health to operate. Easthampton’s regulations require at least two inspections of establishments annually and practitioners must renew their permit each year.
While nothing is final, Griffin said the main ideas being considered at the moment include creating a pathway for clients to file anonymous complaints, requiring that customers be given a document outlining what they can expect during a session and mandating screenings for new hires.
New regulations may also allow the Health Department to suspend a practitioner’s permit if they have any pending investigations or criminal charges, and make it a requirement that artists disclose any new, “qualifying” criminal history during employment. Collaborators may also pursue creating a state and regional notification system to notify each local Board of Health if a practitioner previously had their license revoked.
Griffin said he plans to have a new draft for the Board of Health to review at its next meeting in September, which needs to approve any final updates.
The Board of Health first discussed the proposed regulations at its July 15 meeting with several body art practitioners present, including Patrick MacDonald, the general manager of Lucky’s Tattoo & Piercing, which has locations in Easthampton, Northampton and Boston. Lucky’s was not the establishment against which the complaint was made.
“Tattoo regulations, just like any other regulations that the town enforces, are important to stay modern, revise over the years and incorporate new ideas,” MacDonald said in an interview with the Gazette.
While the new regulations seek to create new protections for clients, MacDonald said they aim to create safeguards for employees as well. One of the new regulations MacDonald said needs more discussion is how to regulate apprenticeships before approval.
In Easthampton, apprentices need to secure a permit that lasts at least two years before becoming an official practitioner, but MacDonald said if they leave an establishment during the apprenticeship they must restart their learning entirely. MacDonald said this can lead to problematic situations, such as “coercion” if someone feels they need to leave an establishment but does not want to restart.
MacDonald has worked in the area for more than 15 years and said at the Board of Health meeting that he has not heard of a similar complaint in Easthampton before the recent sexual assault complaint.
MacDonald said the Health Department took “excellent” and prompt action to address the complaint, welcoming different members of the body art community to provide input on the updated regulations. MacDonald said there will be further discussion to solidify the regulations in a way that works for everyone.
“Tattoo artists are working together and the town of Easthampton is showing unprecedented care,” MacDonald said in developing the regulations. “The tattoo community in Easthampton is rich and full of some of the best tattoo artists in the state.”
