OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – An Omaha bar owner has filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the Nebraska Board of Barber Examiners after the state threatened him with fines and possible criminal charges over his business name.
Mike DiGiacomo owns The Barbershop Blackstone, a bar located below Blackstone Social. He named it in honor of his late father, Don DiGiacomo, who was an Omaha barber for 47 years and operated a hair business in the same building from 1977 until his death four years ago.
State letter prompted legal fight
The family rebranded the bar as The Barbershop Blackstone last February. Two months later, DiGiacomo received a letter from the Nebraska Board of Barber Examiners.
“We couldn’t use the name barbershop in our name and we couldn’t use the colors in the barbershop pole outside the business,” DiGiacomo said…