All information in this article has been independently corroborated by current and former employees, alongside screenshots of text conversations, social media posts, written statements and public record requests. Every verbal account in this story comes from employees who are not involved in any current legal cases.
In December 2024, workplace conflicts escalated at Phoenix Tattoo Company, a go-to studio among DU students. The conflict has spilled out over social media and into police reports and the courts.
A series of social media posts by former employees of Phoenix Tattoo alleged mistreatment, health and safety violations and other workplace concerns under the ownership of Jillian Johnson.
Johnson has owned and operated Phoenix Tattoo Company on South Broadway since 2019. She recently purchased Your Mom’s House, a live music venue located on 13th Street.
Several former employees have come forward about their experience with Johnson and their concerns with the business. Johnson denied her former employee allegations and said she had lawsuits pending against those employees.
Former tattoo apprentice Tamina Oien, along with several other artists, provided accounts that paint a troubling picture of the workplace environment at Phoenix.
On May 14, 2024, Oien and Sara Dorfman, a licensed tattoo artist, quit at Phoenix after alleging feeling uncomfortable with other employees and the general practices being upheld at the shop.
“During my employment, I was required to do ‘free tattoos’ for ‘education’ even though I was not licensed,” alleged Oien. She also claimed experiencing sexual harassment at Phoenix and raised concerns about the absence of support from other male employees in the workplace.
After Oien published her experience with Phoenix on social media, Johnson allegedly threatened Oien with legal action. Oien claimed Johnson made similar threats to Dorfman. Screenshots of these exchanges were briefly posted on Oien’s Facebook page but were later deleted.
As more negative reviews surfaced on platforms like Yelp and Google, Johnson allegedly escalated her threats and also turned to the courts.
The Jefferson County Courthouse has two temporary civil protection orders on file against two former employees. According to the record, the named former employees cannot harm, threaten, contact or speak publicly about Johnson or Phoenix.
Devyn Danieley, current marketing manager of Phoenix Tattoo Company and Your Mom’s House, discussed how negative reviews and online allegations have affected business.
According to Danieley, the shop can fit 14 artists. As of right now, there are three.
“It’s so misconstrued… it’s hard seeing her image online being bashed at every angle,” said Danieley.
Oien recently submitted a compiled report of written statements to the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses. The report is now under review. Director of Communications Eric Escudero confirmed that “every complaint is reviewed meticulously,” and if the complaint contains actions that could be constituted as criminal behavior, it is passed along to the Denver Police Department.
Tattooing 101, the world’s largest online tattoo education platform stated that “in a traditional tattoo apprenticeship, aspiring tattoo artists pay a professional tattoo artist, a ‘mentor,’ to teach them, or they will work in the shop for free in exchange for their education.”
Tattoo apprenticeships, similar to the mechanics of unpaid internships, tend to also include a lot of busy work, such as cleaning the bathrooms and answering phones.
“This [apprenticeship] process can take advantage of people who are not in the industry because if you are just trying to get your foot in the door, you could end up at a shop only interested in free labor,” stated Oien. “There is nothing holding anyone accountable.”
Oien expressed her frustrations with Johnson’s tendency to “use whatever legal weight, whether real or fake, to silence you.”
Dorfman shared a similar story in the written statements sent to the Department of Excise and Licenses.
“She uses whatever she can get against people to get her way and to silence them,” wrote Dorfman.
Dismissals and Property Disputes
On Dec. 8, Johnson fired a piercer, identified as David for privacy reasons. He had already put in his two weeks notice because of his growing concerns with the business and the lack of income he was bringing in, but Johnson let him go a week early after a confrontation at a local bar. David described the incident as “harassment outside of business hours” and claimed Johnson was intoxicated and aggressive.
Later that week, two more employees were fired. According to Johnson and her colleagues, reasons for termination included alleged stealing and absenteeism, among other claims.
On Dec. 16, the terminated artists went to Phoenix to collect their personal belongings. Upon arrival, the group of artists found the door to be locked, with the locks changed.
Current employee and tattoo artist Aaron Flores, who was monitoring security cameras, described the group of artists as a “mob.”
“When you get fired from a place, you set up an appointment to collect your things. That’s just how it works,” said Flores.
Johnson claims she has since updated and clarified the termination clause in her contracts, stating that she will “take accountability for the process of trial and error” to facilitate the retrieval of equipment of terminated artists.
Another tattoo artist, Aizja Trujillo, was fired and blocked via text on the same day.
“I never got any verbal communication saying I was let go, I was just kind of ghosted,” Trujillo said.
After calling the police, in hopes of retrieving their personal belongings such as equipment and licenses, the artists started posting on their social media, speaking out against Johnson and encouraging clients to stop supporting Phoenix.
According to David and Trujillo, police informed the employees that a civil court process was necessary to resolve the matter.
Several artists alleged that Flores demanded they remove social media posts critical of Johnson’s management in exchange for access to their belongings. Feeling pressured, many complied.
In response, Flores stated, “the stuff they were saying was all slanderous lies, and we weren’t going to sit back and let them do that. The fact of the matter is everyone did get their stuff back.”
Trujillo reflected on this ultimatum the artists were given, saying the items inside the shop were their livelihood, and they felt like they had no other choice.
“It felt like she was holding our stuff hostage. I was worried that if one friend didn’t see my message to take it down, we wouldn’t get our stuff back,” Trujillo said.
Johnson also posted her perspective on social media.
The next day, after the artist’s social media posts were deleted, they were invited into the shop to collect their things. Flores was present to supervise the return of belongings.
According to a Denver Police Department Records Request, Johnson filed a police report regarding vandalism to the shop on the night of Dec. 18. The record states that “…the front window of Phoenix Tattoo…was damaged by unknown suspect(s) for unknown reasons and by unknown means.”
More recently, Johnson shared on Facebook her account of firing employees in December and the challenges that followed, including claims of harassment, bullying and vandalism. Although police records report no known suspects, Johnson claims on social media that the vandalism was caused by the former artists.
In response to Johnson’s claims, David stated that they were “peacefully standing outside of her shop on a public sidewalk because she was not allowing the employees to get their supplies that they paid for.” Other former employees denied allegations of vandalism.
While the culmination of this unfair treatment happened in December, several artists have alleged smaller yet equally alarming experiences at Phoenix.
This includes but is not limited to; Johnson showing up visibly intoxicated at work, touching fresh tattoos without sterilization, allowing apprentices to start tattooing after minimal training, putting her employee into a headlock position despite asking her to stop and refusing to pay front-desk receptionists.
Flores responded to the allegations by stating, “these people have this horrible perspective of Jill. She’s a good shop owner. She takes care of us.”
In regard to the lack of coverage within Denver news media, the artists were not surprised. Several spoke on the tattoo industry as a whole and pointed out that these occurrences are not too uncommon in the world of tattooing and piercing. The Denver Department of Excise and Licenses received eight complaints regarding body artists establishments in 2024.
“Unfortunately, we are definitely not the first and definitely not the last artists in the industry who have experienced a situation like this,” David said. “There are a lot of shops out there who don’t care about safety, art, the well-being of artists and the client experience…”
“It’s a hard industry,” said Danieley. “I think where this tattoo community can really come together is knowing it’s a safe place but also having business owners protected.”
Oien refers to Phoenix Tattoo Company as a “chop shop,” a derogatory term for a tattoo shop with a high employee turnover rate that ignores the unspoken code of ethics passed down from a reputable artist.
David encourages anyone looking to get pierced to go somewhere that is Association of Professional Piercers (APP) certified.
Third-year DU student Liz Hoffman, who has received several tattoos from artists at Phoenix Tattoo Company, was surprised to hear the alleged accounts.
“I was shocked to hear about this because I’ve always had positive experiences at Phoenix,” she said. “It just goes to show that you never know what happens behind closed doors.”
Hoffman confirmed that she will not be returning to Phoenix for her next tattoo.
Phoenix Tattoo Company and Your Mom’s House are still up and running under Johnson’s ownership. Despite the allegations and the social media backlash, Johnson maintains that the situation has been misrepresented online.
“Social media is dangerous, and that’s what just happened,” said Johnson. “This is a case of social media.”
Many things are still up in the air, as the terminated artists do their best to find new work and as Phoenix attempts to regain support and employees amidst the allegations and ongoing legal concerns.
