Aspiring Model Sues For $5 Million After Celebrity Stylist Nicks Her Neck

A freelance model who was nicked during a haircut is suing the stylist for $5 million.

The woman claims the prominent celebrity stylist was irresponsible while demonstrating his technique at a public event in New York earlier this year, nicking her neck with his shears. In the lawsuit she filed in October, the 23-year-old part-time model said the stylist was “careless, negligent and reckless.” In addition to the “pain, shock, and mental anguish” she suffered from the incident, the woman said the nick left a visible scar that “threatened her livelihood.”

The New York stylist has had his work featured in Vogue magazine and at the Golden Globes.

Two years ago, an aspiring model from Brazil sued another New York salon that catered to celebrities after a conditioning treatment turned her long, blond hair into a patchy mullet.

The model went to the salon in preparation for a photo shoot with a Brazilian magazine, but soon after the conditioner was applied, the lawsuit claims the model said her head started stinging. She told the stylist, who ignored her complaints. When the stylist finally washed out the conditioner and began blowing dry her hair, it began falling out. Again the stylist told her it was normal for the treatment. But when her hair burned and crumbled as the stylist used a flat iron on her locks, he could no longer deny there was a problem.

After seeing her hair, the magazine canceled her photo shoot. The woman filed suit for $1.5 million. A hair expert advised the 33-year-old model it could take six years before her hair returned to normal.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of 2014, there were about 656,400 barbers, hairdressers, and cosmetologists working in the United States. Last year, the states with the most hairstylists and cosmetologists were: Pennsylvania, California, New York, Florida and Texas. Given the numbers, mistakes are bound to happen.

“A hair salon can be dangerous and anytime an employee or owner has been negligent, a client may have the right to sue,” according to Marine Agency Insurance Services, which detailed multiple incidents that could leave a salon owner open to litigation:

• Chemicals are a part of many hair treatments. Even though a stylist should know the proper way to use these products, some clients may have unexpected reactions to the products, leaving them with scalp or skin burns or other unintended side-effects. The same goes for chemicals and heated tools that can burn or damage hair.
• Slip and fall accidents are the most common types of incidents that occur at any business. One unnoticed spill or a few loose hairs that have not yet been swept away can cause a client to fall and become injured.
• Even the most adept hairdressers can accidentally nick a client, as happened with the model in New York. It may seem like a minor incident to the hairdresser, but not to the client.
• There are even salon dangers unrelated to hair styling, such as nail fungus caused by improperly sanitized manicure tools, burns caused by a malfunctioning tanning bed or even a sexual harassment claim made against an in-house masseuse.

If you have been harmed during a visit to a salon, you may be entitled to compensation. Call the offices of trial attorneys Charles Gilman and Briggs Bedigian at 800-529-6162 or contact them online. The firm handles cases in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C.