MV nail salon named in lawsuit MV nail salon named in lawsuit (August 26, 2005)

By Jenny Baer

Mountain View nail salon Top Hair and Nail, along with at least nine other Bay Area nail salons, is the target of a lawsuit accusing the businesses of spreading infections that permanently scarred customers' legs and bodies.

According to plaintiffs' attorney Robert Bohn, more than 75 people have now filed suit, seeking damages as well as a court order forcing the defendants to strictly abide by state health and safety regulations and to provide adequate product training.

The complaints, filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court, accuse salon owners of failing to properly disinfect whirlpool spas and other instruments in the salons as is required by California's salon-specific health and safety regulations, according to Bohn.

The infections stem from the spread of nontuberculous mycobacterium, a microbe that causes painful open sores that have forced some women to undergo reconstructive surgery to hide the scars.

Top Hair and Salon's owner denies that her business is the target of a suit at all. When reached by a Voice reporter, the owner claimed that a report by a Bay Area news service erroneously named her business as one of the defendants. However, Bohn verified that Mountain View's Top Hair and Nail, located at 205 Middlefield Road, was one of the salons named in the suit.

The suit also targets makers of salon chairs, who design the chairs improperly, Bohn says, making them difficult to clean.

"It's all about money," said Bohn. "On the one hand, there are high-volume salons rushing people through while at the same time trying to cut costs. On the other hand are companies supplying expensive yet under-researched products without adequate warnings or instructions."

In 1999, Bohn represented 52 claimants suing a Watsonville nail salon. He said a $3 million settlement was reached in that case.

E-mail Jenny Baer at jbaer@mv-voice.com

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