A client who sought $1.75 million from a Portland nail salon, claiming it transmitted the genital herpes virus during a manicure, has come to a confidential settlement with the establishment.
The lawsuit was slated for trial this month in Multnomah County Circuit Court, but it was dismissed by a judge after both parties announced they had reached an agreement. The attorneys representing the now-23-year-old plaintiff and PDX Nails stated they could not share details of the settlement.
This unusual claim — that the woman contracted herpes simplex virus type 2 from the salon — garnered considerable media attention after The Oregonian/OregonLive reported on the story when it was first filed in March 2024.
A judge allowed the woman to be identified only by the initials S.R., concerning her fear of public shame and isolation.
The woman alleged that during her visit to PDX Nails near Northeast 120th Avenue and Glisan Street for an acrylic manicure in June 2023, the nail technician failed to wear gloves and kept drill bits in an unsealed container.
Following the manicure, she experienced inflammation and swelling in two fingers and started feeling unwell. Just four days later, she discovered painful blisters forming around one finger and sought treatment at a Kaiser Permanente urgent care center. Medical staff swabbed the blisters and, according to the lawsuit, tests confirmed she had an infection — herpetic whitlow, associated with the genital herpes virus.
The suit asserts that she had no history of herpes prior to this incident. Since then, the virus has reactivated several times, causing her pain and requiring her to bandage her fingers to avoid spreading it when out in public.
Cases of herpes transmission through manicures are quite rare, although in 2002, a Colorado jury awarded $3.1 million to a woman who claimed she contracted herpes due to the use of non-sterile instruments during a manicure.
Additionally, lawsuits blaming others for spreading herpes through sexual relations have also been successful. For example, in 2012, a Portland woman received $900,000 after a jury found that her date had not disclosed his herpes status prior to intercourse.
Neither the attorney for PDX Nails, Megan Ferris, nor the plaintiff’s attorney, Amity Girt, provided comments on the case.
