Charges Against Salon in AIDS Case Dropped

Criminal charges have been dropped against a trendy West Hollywood nail salon that was accused of discrimination for refusing to give a pedicure to a man with AIDS, the salon’s attorney said Wednesday.

Beverly Hills Municipal Judge John Murphy on Dec. 2 dismissed the complaint brought by West Hollywood against Jessica’s Nail Clinic. Murphy said that the possibility of infection from AIDS in an intimate relationship between a pedicurist and a client was a legitimate concern and thus the complaint alleging discrimination could not be applied.

At the time the charges were filed, West Hollywood officials called the action the first case of its kind in the country.

Los Angeles attorney Paul J. Geragos said the ruling was the second court victory this year for the Sunset Boulevard nail salon. In April, a Santa Monica Superior Court judge rejected a petition for a preliminary injunction sought by the AIDS patient, Paul Jasperson, 36.

In that case, Judge David M. Rothman ruled that “an act of discriminatory conduct toward a person afflicted with AIDS is permissible if the conduct is based on a reasonable risk of harm from the afflicted person, and the act has a direct relationship to that risk.”

Although the injunction request was rejected, the civil lawsuit filed by activist attorney Gloria Allred on Jasperson’s behalf is still pending. It is set for trial Jan. 27 in Santa Monica Superior Court.

“I’m just gratified that in two separate courts the judges have ruled in our favor in this unfortunate situation,” Geragos said.

Jasperson sued the nail salon after an appointment in July, 1986, was canceled when a manicurist there overheard him telling a friend that he recently had been diagnosed as having acquired immune deficiency syndrome. He later tried to set up appointments, but was told by the salon’s receptionist and later by one of the owners, Jessica Vartoughian, that no appointments were available.

Reached by telephone late Wednesday, Jasperson, who lives in West Hollywood, said he was “disappointed but not surprised” at the ruling. “It is a precedent-setting case and lower courts don’t want to make that kind of decisions,” he said.

He added that he was pleased that West Hollywood officials have decided to appeal the decision.

Victor Vartoughian, who with his wife operates the nail salon and two cosmetic companies, said Wednesday that he was delighted by last week’s ruling, but declined further comment.