A trip to the nail salon or beauty parlor is supposed to be fun, relaxing, invigorating and ultimately, beautifying. It’s something that nearly 2.5 million New York City women…and a fair number of men…do every week. Ninety-nine percent of the time the customer walks out the door with a smile on her…or his…face. It’s even customary for the satisfiedcustomer to tip their stylist or manicurist, often handsomely, for the high-quality services they’ve received. And, then it’s back again the following week for more soaking and stroking and pampering and snipping and blow-drying.
But not all salon experiences have happy endings. There are times, infrequent though they may be, when salons breach their obligations and customers get hurt.
In these situations, when a beauty treatment goes wrong, the customer has legal rights. While minor scratches may require nothing more than the application of a band-aid, more serious injuries, for example if a scissor cut leads to an infection, or possible permanent facial scarring, the customer has rights and should contact a top New York nail salon and beauty parlor lawyer and let a legal professional take it from there.
The first thing an experienced nail salon and beauty parlor lawyer will do is to determine the degree of severity of the injury, and if the customer has a legitimate negligence claim against the beauty establishment. If the lawyer decides the case has merit and decides to represent the customer, he or she will most likely conduct an investigation of the salon to determine the following:
- Could the shop owner foresee the event that caused the injury?
- Were any of the technicians’ actions negligent?
- Was the negligence a direct, or proximate (legal term meaning “acceptable”) cause of the injury?
- The customer’s lawyer also will assess the type of injuries suffered by the customer, and estimate the amount of money it will take to compensate the customer fairly for their injury.
In most instances, where customers have valid claims against the beauty salon or nail parlor, injury compensation cases are settled quickly and out of court. In far fewer situations, a trial will ensue and a jury will be asked to assign guilt and the amount of compensation owed the injured customer. Good news for customers! Since lawyers who handle negligence cases like these work on a contingency basis, the client pays nothing for the lawyer’s services unless and until the case is settled, or decided in the customer’s favor by the court.
