POSTED: 10:41 a.m. EDT April 9, 2003
ST. LOUIS -- A woman is suing a suburban St. Louis hair salon, claiming failed work on her hair caused her depression and the loss of her job.
Geremie Hoff is suing the Elizabeth Arden Salon, where she went in August 2001 to get her hair straightened or relaxed.
Hoff's attorney, Paul Devine, said Monday that the work on Hoff's hair was so bad that Hoff "shut down. She spiraled into a depression because, right or wrong, looks were important to her."
The salon's attorney, Lawrence Hartstein, told the jury in his opening statement that the stylist, Raye Hudson, had performed "hundreds if not thousands of these procedures" and did nothing wrong in treating Hoff's hair.
Devine alleged that Hudson failed to do a test strand before applying a hair product.
Hoff, now 56, was a teacher at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a tour guide for trips to Italy. Devine alleged some of Hoff's hair fell out after the treatment, and weeks later she had a bald spot in back, "and her hair stuck out like a bird's nest."
Hoff took early retirement from teaching and stopped taking tour groups to Italy, Devine said. He added that a psychiatrist and a counselor will testify about her depression.
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