Woman sues stylist friend for emotional damage after colour job

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A woman getting some colour work done on her hair didn’t exactly get what she hoped, so she sued her stylist for emotional damage and monetary compensation for the bad job.

Alexzandra Anzulovich sued her former friend Alejandra Falk for $3,000, which she claims were the costs of subsequent salon visits — and damages for emotional distress — after a bad bleaching job.

For her part, Falk admits that Anzulovich’s hair didn’t lighten as expected, but added that she wasn’t truthful about previous hair treatments, which caused the less-than-perfect result. Falk also admitted that her bleach application contributed to the problem but that she already paid $500 in compensation.

Anzulovich learned that the damage her hair suffered could take a year or two to be remedied.

The BC Civil Resolution Tribunal was divided in its final decision.

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In early November 2022, Falk agreed to do her friend’s hair. In exchange, Anzulovich’s boyfriend would detail Falk’s car.

Photographs of the desired look were exchanged, but Falk warned that the style chosen would be high maintenance and that there would be some damage since there was already some blonde in the hair. Anzulovich agreed to proceed.

Both sides disagreed on what then occurred and no one could fully determine what exactly caused the bad hair job.

“The respondent says that they noticed during the session that the way the applicant’s hair was lightening was not scientifically possible unless the applicant had been untruthful about what she had previously done to her hair,” the tribunal decision reads.

Falk agreed to reimburse Anzulovich for whatever she had to pay to fix the hair.

Anzulovich provided the tribunal with a receipt of $563.85. She relied on the repair work and the testimony of two stylists following Falk’s imperfect job. Neither could prove that anything Falk did directly damaged Anzulovich’s hair.

One stylist suggested that the damage was so bad that she would have to wait one to two years for her hair to fully grow out before more chemical service could be done.

Regarding the cost of the hair damage, the tribunal agreed that Falk was on the hook for the total of $563.85, ordering her to pay the $63.86 she still owed.

For her claims of emotional damage, Anzulovich provided a letter from her boyfriend’s counsellor to prove that she had attended a counselling session to work through the “emotional frustration” that stemmed from the incident.

“Without direct medical evidence about the extent of the applicant’s distress, I find that she has failed to show she is entitled to any damages for emotional distress,” the tribunal decided.