Woman gets shamed at nail salon because she's allergic to the sun
A trip to the salon is usually a delightful experience.
You come to get pampered and you leave glowing, cherishing the feeling of a new look.
Unfortunately, such wasn’t the case for Jennifer Dreyer Brown, 47, when she visited the Happy Nails salon in Orange County, California.
According to her emotional testimony, posted to her Facebook, she was shunned, humiliated and denied service from the salon workers because she had lupus.
Brown, 47, visited the nail salon on a hot summer’s day in 2018, hoping to get her nails done. On that particular day, temperatures soared into the hundreds, causing complications to her condition. Her lupus, which she’s lived with for 15 years, experienced a flare-up beneath the sweltering heat, causing rashes on her skin.
Lupus is an autoimmune disorder that causes the body to attack its own healthy cells. The Lupus foundation estimates that roughly 1.5 million Americans are living with this incurable disease. Genes play a major role in increasing the chances that one will develop lupus, and often it is triggered by environmental conditions. In this case, the heat.
Brown’s condition is a form of lupus called “discoid lupus”, which directly affects her skin. People often experience rashes, which are worsened by exposure to sunlight.
In Jennifer Brown’s case:
“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.”
This was not satisfactory for the nail salon when they took it upon themselves to refuse service due to her appearance.
Jennifer had previously booked her appointment for a manicure and pedicure. During her pedicure problems began to arise as she overheard gossip. She overheard the employees openly discussing her condition, not even trying to hide their conversations.
Fear took over, and the workers assumed the condition was contagious. She was eventually denied her manicure under the guise that they were too busy to take her, even though she had called ahead of time.
Brown’s scars get red when she is exposed to sunlight, and even though her hands looked fine that day, the nail salon was adamant that they wanted no part.
“They made up so many excuses and lies. I have never been so publicly humiliated in my life!”
Humiliated, Brown exited the salon in tears, going on to record her painful experience.
An emotional video shows a very teary-eyed Brown disclosing her frustration and sadness in her fellow neighbors.
“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 tells with tears in her eyes. “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 attracted a lot of attention across social media, and people began to harass the nail salon via their Yelp page.
The Happy Nails salon released a statement in reaction to the incident, detailing that their actions were simply in compliance with the California Board of Cosmetology code.
“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 statement said. “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.”
Even so, Jennifer made it clear she would not be returning to the establishment due to the appalling treatment that day. She hopes the incident can help to spread awareness and knowledge about this delicate subject.
Check out her compelling account in the video below.
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