new thread
Can you sue somebody for giving you a bad haircut?? You know, go with the "emotional damage" angle...
I figure since America is already lawsuit happy as it is, then it wouldn't be that big of a deal
meat
I wish we could...i just posted this at longhairedmen.com:
I thought I'd share with you a long-hair nightmare... Whn you're a rocker and you're in a band...you like to pride yourself upon the fact that you can handle any situation and adapt to adversity. I found there was one situation that could not control my emotions under...and let me a blubbering wreck...afraid to leave the leave the house.... Two words: Hairdressing Nightmare. I was about to go on Holiday, and I decided to have a trim - just get rid of the split ends and ensure hair quality...I was going to parade my David Lee Roth shoulder-length hair up and down the beach proudly in tip top condition. So I arrived at my usual hairdressers and explained..."leave the length, just take off the bare minimum to remove the split ends". As I sat there I became more and more uneasy. The guy was cutting my hair in a way that meant I couldn't see how much he was cutting off. He was brushing the hair behind my head and snipping away. There was far too much hair on the salon floor for my liking, and when he dried it he brushed it straight...and I didn't notice until I got home....he'd given me a bob. From shoulder length to a bob!! I was distraught...completely beside myself with agony! I nealy called off the whole trip! It took me ages to tease my hair into a raggedy enough mess to be able to look half decent...I had gone from having David Lee Roth hair to Hanson. I had to force the thing into a Cobain look. Arrrrgh! That was about two years ago.. and although I know it's no good for me....I haven't been to a hairdressers since - I dare not venture through those doors. My hair is longer than it was before that nightmare day...but it just makes me wonder how long it would be now....
Dear Meat:
This is America, Dude; you can sue anyone for anything. What some people don't get, however, is that you won't necessarily win.
In my town (san diego) there was an incident a few years ago that often turns up in discussions of our "lawsuit happy" culture. A group of women at a Chargers football game, tired of waiting in line to pee, rushed the men's restroom at halftime and commandeered the stalls. Some poor fellow who was standing at a urinal was so "emotionally damaged" by the presence of boys and girs togehter in the QualComm pissoir that he filed suit against the Chargers, the stadium authority, and the concessionaire who he alleged to be negligent for selling beer and making everyone have to go potty.
The judge not only threw the whole thing out, but the plaintiff was penalized for bringing a frivolous suit. And I may be mistaken, but I believe his attorney was also sanctioned.
Unless you can prove that a haircutter *intentionally* scalped you (in which case, you might be able to sue for assault), you'll have a hard time convincing a judge or jury that you sustained any compensable damages from a bad haircut -- even a *real* bad haircut. It does grow back.
On the other hand, you might try the Judge Judy show. ;-)
. . . JP in san diego.