Member Highlight
VABANC attorney defends wave of suits targeting
nail salons
By Candice Nguyen Hamant
Nail salon owners and beauty supply vendors are being
targeted for lawsuits alleging that unhealthy practices and unsanitary
equipment are causing infections in patrons. Many of these
businesses, which form an estimated $6 billion industry, are owned by
Vietnamese Americans.
Chinh Vo, VABANC’s Membership Chair and attorney with
Clapp, Moroney, Bellagamba & Vucinich, has defended at least six
lawsuits against nail salons and beauty suppliers since 2000. His
involvement has been instrumental in getting the business owners to
work with the insurance carriers that have provided a defense and the
attorneys representing them. Initially, some salon owners were
reluctant to speak with non-Vietnamese-speaking claims investigators
or dismissive toward the suits as hype against the industry.
In a trial in Contra Costa County, Vo and his firm
obtained a defense verdict on behalf of the nail salon owner because
the plaintiff was unable to prove that she had contracted any
infection from the services rendered by Vo’s client. In another case
in Watsonville, Vo’s client, a beauty supply store that sold spa
manicure/pedicure chairs, contributed only a small portion of a large
settlement, most of which was paid by the manufacturer.
Vo believes the trend of targeting the nail salon
industry will continue. Plaintiffs and their attorneys often find out
whether a business has insurance – and thus worth chasing after – by
sending visitors posing as insurance salespersons. If the business
says it already has insurance, it is slapped with a complaint. As a
result of the rising number of claims, insurance premiums for these
businesses have increased.
Vo suggests that Vietnamese American nail salon owners
and operators adhere to Board of Cosmetology rules and regulations,
consider incorporating their business to protect personal assets,
obtain sufficient insurance coverage, and get an attorney familiar
with insurance law if they are sued.
He urges Vietnamese American attorneys representing
these businesses not to take no for an answer if an insurance company
denies the claim. Also, because the claim may involve a problem with
the equipment and not the services, the attorney should also
investigate tendering to the equipment manufacturer.
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