A Pennsylvania woman was badly burned while visiting Nail Studio in Baltimore. Niquita Andrews went to the nail salon to have her acrylic fingernails removed. In order to get the acrylic nails off, they have you soak your fingertips in a bowl of warm water with acetone to dissolve the acrylic.
Acetone is a flammable chemical. Allegedly, after she put her fingers in the bowl, Andrews was allegedly burned when acetone was poured into a hot cup intended to heat wax. This caused a spark, igniting the acetone.
The plaintiff brought a legal action in Baltimore City alleging strict liability, negligence and violations of the Maryland Consumer Protection Act. She sued for $5 million.
The victim suffered painful second-degree burns, which covered 40 percent of her body. State Farm Insurance Co., the nail salon’s insurer, put up $1 million to settle this case. It is unclear from the report how deep into the litigation this case had to go before State Farm paid the settlement. This settlement seemed appropriate in light of Maryland’s statutory cap of $710,000 on non-economic damages and Andrew’s economic damages of approximately $300,000, which include $150,000 in past and future medical expenses.
Contact one of our Gacovino Lake attorneys at 1-800-246-HURT (4878) for further information.
