Tattoos the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
When Ed Helms’ character in The Hangover Part II awoke from his drunken slumber with a Mike Tyson-style tattoo on the side of his face, there was at least one person watching who managed not to chuckle – S. Victor Whitmill, the tattoo artist who designed and created the distinctive tattoo for the former world heavyweight boxing champion.
Although Mr Whitmill’s subsequent claim against Warner Brothers was for copyright infringement, the case highlights the prevalence of tattooist negligence claims. Indeed, many such claims are now attracting the attention of the media.
Real Life Cases
One such case is that of 18-year-old Kimberley Vlaminck, who allegedly woke up in 2009 in a tattoo parlour in her hometown of Courtrai, Belgium, with no fewer than 56 stars etched onto her face. As with Ed Helms’ character, Stu, there was considerable uncertainty over the level of consent given by Kimberley, who claimed to have asked for just three stars before falling asleep in the parlour. Rouslan Toumaniantz, the tattoo artist who implemented the design, claimed the teenager had asked for 56 stars (why not 50 or some other meaningful number remains unclear).
Laser Surgery
Facing a £9,000 bill to remove the tattoos by laser surgery, Mr Toumaniantz insisted that his teenage client got what she asked for. However, as a gesture of goodwill, the tattooist offered to pay for half the treatment. Eventually, Kimberley came clean and admitted that she had lied about asking for three stars and falling asleep during the procedure. The reason for her deceit? She was scared, as her father was not entirely happy about her new look.
Legitimate Claims
Not all tattooist negligence claims are without good cause. In 2009, a 5-year-old boy from Queensland, Australia suffered scarring after a henna tattoo caused chemical burning. On holiday at the time in Bali, Indonesia, Cannon Cribb was initially happy to receive the henna tattoo of a large, detailed dragon on his left shoulder and upper arm. Unfortunately, black henna, which contains para-phenylenediamine, was used by the tattooist. Para-phenylenediamine, or p-phenylenediamine, has been known to cause damage to human skin.
In Cannon’s case, the henna tattoo left a large, dragon-shaped welt on his skin after it wore off. The 5-year-old boy was treated with topical steroids and required several fresh dressings every day until the welt healed. Numerous tattooist negligence claims involving black henna are extremely serious and it is fortunate in Cannon’s case that the welt eventually healed. A similar case involving a 6-year-old boy from Poole, Dorset, further highlights the need to take caution on holiday. Cade Bailey suffered a serious chemical burn after receiving an oriental dragon henna tattoo on his arm whilst holidaying in Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt, earlier this year.
The Almost Funny
Where tattoos have caused physical injury, tattooist claims can be brought against those responsible. If a tattooist has breached their duty of care to the claimant and the breach is found to have caused the harm in question, they would be liable to pay compensation. Likewise, if a customer receives a tattoo that they did not expressly request, the tattooist could face legal action from personal injury lawyers, as in the case of a Brazilian tattooist who etched a depiction of a penis on the back of a rival football fan who had asked for the Boca Juniors logo.
Hi I am Denver Burke, a 22 year old blogger who likes to provide content on a number of topics. I like to write about quite serious topics with the odd anecdote or story from around the world thrown in. I am currently writing on behalf of Ead solicitors.
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