Most women leave the salon feeling fabulous and extra good about themselves after being pampered and treating themselves to some salon services.
But that’s not what happened to Jeniffer Dreyer Brown.
She left Happy Nails in Laguna Niguel California in tears. This is because she said the salon workers shamed and humiliated her for having lupus.
Lupus is an autoimmune disorder that causes the body to attacks its own healthy tissues. This often causes rashes or skin inflammation which isn’t contagious.
The day she went into the salon was the hottest day of the year.
Brown has “discoid lupus” which means she’s “allergic to the sun” essentially. The bright sun and hot temperatures caused her skin condition to flare up.
“I was born and raised in Laguna Beach – there is no amount of sunblock or umbrellas [to prevent the flares],” she said. “The scars on my skin get red when I go outside.”
Since it was so hot out she was wearing a sundress so her skin condition was visible.
She says this is the reason that she was denied a manicure at the salon. The salon initially agreed to perform a manicure and pedicure for her.
They gave her a pedicure but Brown said she could hear the women in the salon talking and she knew they were talking about her.
When it was time to do her manicure they told her that they could only do a polish change.
They said they didn’t have enough time despite the fact that there were salon workers standing around. She was then told it was because of her skin. Brown explained that there were no scars on her hands.
“I showed her my hands and she still denied me,” she told FOX News.
The salon worker then changed her tune again.
The salon worker they said that it was the rest of Brown that they were worried about. Brown left the salon in tears.
“They made up so many excuses and lies. I have never been so publicly humiliated in my life!” she wrote on Facebook.
She took to Facebook and posted a video telling her story and warning people not to use this salon.
“The one time I choose to go out in a sundress because its 110 degrees people judge me because I have lupus and my skin is broken out,” she says tearfully in her video. “I never felt more like a leper and more judged in orange county. I just want you to know you need to be nice to people. You don’t know whats going on with someone on the inside or outside for that matter.”
Brown’s video went viral and many people went to the business’ Yelp page to leave negative reviews after the incident.
The salon’s attorney claims that they were just following California Board of Cosmetology’s code which states:
“No person … shall perform service upon a surface of the skin or scalp where such skin is inflamed, or broken … or where a skin infection or eruption is present.”
He says his clients were in no way discriminating against Brown.
“We at Happy Nails feel bad for the customer that presented with Lupus disease. We do not discriminate at Happy Nails. The customer interpreted our inability to work on her nails as discrimination,” the attorney’s statement read. “The workers are very hard working immigrants that would want nothing more than to provide the service. However, they must follow the mandates of the law.”
Brown says those she was a regular at the salon, she doesn’t plan on returning and hopes that her experience will help raise awareness about lupus.
You can watch her Facebook video below.
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