Salon Negligence Lawyers in Atlanta

Every day, thousands of people across the Atlanta area visit salons and similar personal care businesses, including barber shops, nail salons, and day spas. Customers expect professional, safe services.

Whether you’re getting a manicure or hair treatment, you trust that the professionals serving you have proper training, follow sanitation protocols, and use safe techniques and products. Unfortunately, that trust is sometimes betrayed with painful, costly, and sometimes permanent consequences.

These kinds of personal-care businesses—beauty salons, nail salons, barber shops and wellness/spa studios—are found in many of Atlanta’s commercial districts, including Buckhead, Midtown, Virginia–Highland and West Midtown.

At Prieto, Marigliano & Prieto, LLC, we believe that salon owners and cosmetology professionals must be held accountable when their negligence causes harm. For more than 25 years, our personal injury firm has fought for individuals who have suffered injuries due to the carelessness of those entrusted with their care. If you were harmed at a salon, contact us today for a free consultation.

Common Types of Salon Injuries

The prevalence of salon negligence in Georgia is troubling. According to a 2022 CBS46 investigation, 2,022 complaints were filed against Georgia salons in 2021. With only a dozen inspectors responsible for overseeing thousands of salons throughout Georgia, unsafe practices often go unchecked until someone gets hurt.

When salon professionals fail in their duty of care, clients can suffer a wide range of painful and possibly disfiguring injuries. These include:

• Chemical Burns: Among the most common and serious salon injuries, chemical burns can result from hair relaxers, perms, bleaches, hair dyes, and other chemical treatments left on too long, applied incorrectly, or mixed in improper concentrations. These burns can cause severe pain, blistering, and permanent scarring on the scalp, face, neck, and other areas.
• Eye Injuries: Chemicals splashing into eyes during hair treatments, eyelash extension adhesive causing corneal abrasions, or improper eyebrow tinting can result in serious eye injuries, including chemical burns, infections, vision damage, or even blindness in severe cases.
• Skin Infections and Reactions: Unsanitary conditions and improperly sterilized tools can transmit bacterial, fungal, and viral infections. Clients may develop staph infections or even more serious bloodborne infections if exposed to contaminated instruments.
• Nail Infections and Injuries: Manicures and pedicures performed with unsanitary tools or improper techniques can lead to nailbed infections, ingrown nails, and damage to the nail matrix that prevents proper nail growth.
• Severe Allergic Reactions: Hair dyes, chemical straighteners, and other salon products can trigger allergic reactions ranging from mild irritation to severe anaphylactic shock.
• Burns from Styling Tools: Hot tools, including flat irons, curling irons, and hair dryers, can cause serious burns when used carelessly or when equipment malfunctions. Burns to the scalp, face, neck, ears, and hands can result in painful injuries and permanent scarring.
• Cuts and Lacerations: Sharp implements like scissors and razors can cause cuts when used carelessly. These wounds can become infected if tools weren’t properly sterilized and may require stitches or other medical treatment.
• Waxing Injuries: Improperly heated wax, wax applied to sensitive or compromised skin, or poor waxing technique can cause burns, skin tears, infections, and permanent scarring. Brazilian and bikini waxing are particularly risky when not performed properly.
• Scarring and Permanent Disfigurement: The most severe salon injuries can result in permanent scarring on visible areas, including the face, scalp, neck, and hands.
• Nerve Damage: In other extreme cases, nerve damage may result in numbness, tingling, chronic pain, or loss of sensation in affected areas.
• Spa and Massage Injuries: Improperly heated stones, untrained massage techniques, unsanitary spa equipment, or exposure to contaminated water in whirlpool footbaths can lead to burns, muscle or joint injury, and serious bacterial infections.

What begins as a routine salon visit can result in emergency room treatment, multiple medical procedures, permanent physical changes, psychological trauma, and substantial financial costs. If you’ve suffered any of these injuries due to salon negligence, you should not only submit a complaint to Georgia’s Professional Licensing Boards Division, but also consult with a lawyer.

Getting Compensation for a Salon Injury

When you’ve suffered an injury due to salon negligence, you shouldn’t have to bear the costs alone. With the help of an Atlanta salon negligence attorney, you may be eligible for the damages below: 

• Medical Expenses: All medical costs related to treating your salon injury, including emergency room visits, doctor appointments, medications, physical therapy, and any ongoing treatment required.
• Corrective Procedures: If scar revision surgery, skin grafts, or other reconstructive procedures to address the damage caused by negligence are required.
• Lost Wages and Loss of Earning Capacity: If your salon injury requires you to miss work during recovery, or affects your ability to work in the future, especially in public-facing roles.
• Pain and Suffering: Acknowledges the physical pain caused by salon injuries as well as the psychological impact, which may include anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, loss of self-esteem, and social withdrawal.
• Scarring and Disfigurement: When salon negligence results in permanent scarring, particularly on visible areas like the face, scalp, neck, or hands.

After a Salon Injury, Contact Prieto, Marigliano & Prieto, LLC

Don’t let a negligent salon escape responsibility for the harm they’ve caused you. If you’ve suffered an injury due to unsafe practices, unsanitary conditions, or careless treatment at an Atlanta-area salon, barber shop, or spa, time is critical. Evidence can disappear, and witnesses’ memories fade.

Contact Prieto, Marigliano & Prieto, LLC, today for a free, confidential consultation. Our experienced attorneys will review the details of your case, explain your legal rights, and fight tirelessly to hold negligent salon owners and staff accountable.