A woman who claimed she was unlawfully imprisoned in a Dublin beauty salon due to a dispute over how her friend would pay for a manicure, has settled a €60,000 personal injuries claim against the salon.
Judge John Martin heard in the Circuit Civil Court that Suzanne Strickland was detained against her will for up to 45 minutes in Viva Luxy Beauty Salon on the Ballyfermot Road on September 17th, 2022.
Ms Strickland (48), of St Mark’s Drive, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, told her barrister, Deirdre Byrne, she visited the salon to meet a friend who had had a manicure and wanted to pay for it with a gift voucher.
However, Ms Byrne, who appeared with HJ Ward Solicitors, told the court that the voucher was for a salon “around the corner” and could not be redeemed as payment by Viva Luxy.
READ MORE
Ms Strickland said her friend told Viva Luxy staff she would go and get cash and return to pay for the manicure. This was deemed unacceptable by Viva Luxy, which allegedly demanded payment by card and locked the doors.
She said she asked on numerous occasions to be allowed to leave the salon during the payment dispute but Viva Luxy staff refused to unlock the doors and let her out.
Judge Martin heard that Ms Strickland subsequently suffered anxiety, panic attacks, palpitations and insomnia for which she received medical treatment.
It was claimed that many years before the Viva Luxy incident Ms Strickland was unlawfully detained “in very traumatic circumstances” against her will in a car for several hours. She said memories of this had been triggered by her experience in the beauty salon.
Following a brief adjournment, Ms Byrne told the court the matter had been settled and could be adjourned to July for mention to facilitate implementation of the settlement and the striking out of the proceedings. Details of the settlement were not divulged in court.
Viva Luxy Limited, of Ballyfermot Road, Dublin 10, had entered a defence to the proceedings in which the company alleged the doors had remained unlocked and that neither Ms Strickland or her friend had attempted to open them.
