A man walks into a tattoo parlor (no, it isn’t the start of a joke) and asks for his favorite city to be put on his chest. Now the $250 order has become a lawsuit:
But the idea went terribly awry in a North Side tattoo parlor: He left with the word “CHI-TONW” inked into his skin where “CHI-TOWN” should have been.
Now Duplessis is suing the business and the tattoo artist for monetary damages in the 2005 mess after suffering what he says in his lawsuit was “emotional distress from public ridicule.”
At least he didn’t live in Albuquerque.
6 Comments
Let’s hope the tattoo parlor at least pays to get the thing fixed, since they screwed up.
I have no problem with this one. Services(or possibly goods, depending on how one characterizes body art) were contracted, and different services were provided. It’s expensive and painful to fix, and clearly the tattooist’s fault.
Now, if he sued for $250 million, it’d be ridiculous, but for the costs of removal of the last 2 letters, another appointment at another tattoo parlor, time missed from work for doing this, and something for pain and suffering…I’d say he has a case.
Actually a great modernization of the basic question in Hawkins v. McGee.
I shudder to think of the possible bad outcomes had he been a resident of “Blue Balls’ PA.
I think the point here is the “emotional distress from public ridicule” charge. Um, put a shirt on?
If the parlor is unwilling to pay for removal and correction, then a lawsuit is certainly warranted, of course, but “emotional distress from public ridicule”? Only if you xposed yourself to it before having the offending stuff removed. (Thank goodnss for modern technology!)
Deoxy has it right. Of course the parlor owes him a refund and should be responsible for the cost of fixing the error. But (aside from the amusing mental picture this suit conjures) it’s the overselling of the damages that makes the case comment worthy. Emotional distress? It’s not like the person tattooed “That’s so gay” on his chest, after all.