Woman claims she was turned away from nail salon: 'You're too big'
HOUSTON - A woman said a north Houston nail salon manager told her she was too overweight to use their salon services...
HOUSTON – A woman said a north Houston nail salon manager told her she was too overweight to use their salon services.
Shawanna Thompson said she went into Aertex Nails on Ella Boulevard to get a pedicure.
A worker started filling the water bowl at one of the chairs, but Thompson said before she could sit down in the chair, a manager walked out of the back room and confronted her.
“She said, ‘You’re too big. No, no, no, we can’t do anything for you,’” said Thompson.
Thompson said the manager told her, “We pay $2,000 for our chairs and you’ll break our chairs.”
Thompson said she was shocked, especially because just two weeks earlier she had gotten a pedicure sitting in the very same chair without a problem.
Thompson said the difference last time was that the manager was not there.
Thompson said this time, since the manager repeatedly told her she was too big, she walked out of the salon.
Local 2 went to the salon and asked for a manager and told all of the salon workers why we were there. Most of the employees did not want to talk. However, one worker, who did not give her name, said Thompson was not telling the truth.
“Everybody sometime do (sic) lie,” said the woman. When Local 2 asked the woman to explain further, she said, “No, I don’t know. I don’t speak English.”
Thompson said the woman Local 2 spoke with at the salon was actually the same manager who told Thompson she was too big to sit in the chairs. She said the manager was wrong for what she said to her that day.
“It was disrespectful and distasteful,” said Thompson. “To be derogatory in front of other people is pretty much unacceptable.”
Thompson said if the salon wants to have a weight restriction, they should apply them consistently.
Thompson said the policy should be posted so customers of all sizes can see it and decide whether they want to spend their money there. Thompson said many of her family and friends go to the salon, but she is encouraging them to boycott the establishment.
