03x94 - Balding at Sixteen

[bunniefuu]

You hired her to do
their hair for the party?

When they got their hair done by her,

initially, they were complaining
of their head hurting.

But when I took the ponytail
completely down, they had these sores.

What did your mother do when
you told her that your head hurt you?

-What did she do?
-They got the memory like Dory.

Like, they can't even remember
what they ate for breakfast yesterday.

-[announcer] This is Judy Justice.
-[theme music]

[announcer] Quay Walden is suing
hairdresser Franshon Fisher

for injuries to her


-after Franshon styled their hair.
-[Kevin] Court come to order. All rise.

[Judy]
Have a seat, please.

Judge, case 3138, Walden versus Fisher.

-Thank you.
-Welcome.

Ms. Walden, this is your case.
These are your twin daughters.

They were celebrating a sweet 16,

-and they were having a party.
-Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] They wanted a very
special look for the party.

They were gonna wear their hair in a...
some sort of a ponytail.

You bought each of them an extension,

so that they could enhance
whatever hairstyle they were gonna have.

And you hired Ms. Fisher in order to do
their hair for the party. So far, correct?

-Yes, ma'am.
-Yes.

[Judy] And the girls went,
they went by themselves.

And your lawsuit says
that they did have their party

and that their hair looked just fine
for the party. Hair looked great, right?

Took pictures, everything
was perfect for the party.

-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] And then after the party,

day later or two days later,
they were having problems.

The hair didn't stay
as it was supposed to be.

It was supposed to stay for longer
than a couple of days.

And then when you
finally took the curls out,

you noticed that they
had sores in their hair

from where pins had been
stabbing them for days.

-You want to be compensated for that?
-Yes, ma'am.

-[Judy] That's what the case is about?
-Yeah.

-Did I leave anything out?
-You kind of mixed it up a little bit,

-but it's fine, I'll take what...
-[Judy] No, tell me how I mixed it up.

So first, I would like to say, if I knew
what lied beneath the craftsmanship,

I would've never even reached out

-about the craftsmanship.
-[Judy] Who cares?

That has absolutely nothing to do with
laying out what your lawsuit is about.

You hired her.
And if hindsight were 20/20,

my parents would've been taller,
maybe I would've been taller.

-[courtroom laughs]
-But that's what happens.

Stand up next to your mother, please.

Has the defendant ever
done their hair before?

-No, she did not do their hair before.
-[Judy] Uh, just a second.

-How did you find her?
-[Quay] On the internet.

I had a couple of options
to vacillate between...

-[Judy] Just a second. On the internet?
-...so I chose that. Mhm.

And what did you pay her
to do the girl's hair?

$400, $200 each for an updo ponytail.

And to be quite frank,
it's a... I'm very familiar with it.

I've done it on their hair
a couple of times before.

I know how it should be done.
I paid her to do the service.

When they came home, like I said,
the hair was nice for the party.

Two days later, all I went to do
was titivate the curls.

When I took the pin out just to redo
the curls, the whole ponytail fell apart.

I was actually in the middle
of recording a TikTok

just to show, you know,
how to redo the curls and...

-I don't care about that.
-[Quay] ...I had it on video.

I don't care. Do you understand?
I only care about one thing...

-Mhm.
-[Judy] ...in your complaint,

and that is you say that the girls
suffered permanent damage to their scalp

as a result of the way
she attached these pieces of hair.

-That's your complaint?
-Yeah.

-So, when was the sweet 16?
-So, the sweet 16 was May 13th.

-[Judy] Okay. May 13th, 2023.
-Yeah. '23. Yes.

May 16th is when I went
to basically redo the curls.

-May 19th, I took it out.
-[Judy] Okay... [shushing]

And just, I would like to mention,
when they got their hair done by her,

initially, they were complaining
of their head hurting.

They went and they advised her,

because like I said,
they have these plenty of time before.

They told her their head,
it wasn't feeling right.

She took a tail comb and stuck it in the
middle of their head and went like this,

and said "'Cause y'all
not used to updo ponytails."

-Could we move on, please?
-[Quay] Absolutely.

[Judy]
May 19th is what you were at?

Yeah. I took their hair down on May 19th,
is when I took it out completely.

-You took it out completely...
-[Quay] Yes...

-...six days... [shushing]
-[Quay] When I...

Six days later,
you took it out completely.

Now, between the 13th and the 19th,
six days, the girls were away,

-or were they with you?
-They were with me.

[Judy] Twenty-four hours a day
when they weren't in school?

Yes, 24 hours a day. We're pretty...

[Judy] I assume if something
was sticking them in the head,

that your daughters,
who were 16 years old,

would've said, "Mom, something's
sticking me and hurting me"

-on the 14th, the 15th, the 16th...
-[Quay] Mhm.

-[Judy] ...the 17th, the 18th.
-[Quay] Mhm.

Look at me. How many times
did you complain to your mother,

from the 14th to the 19th, that your head
hurt you? Look at me. How many times?

No answer is gonna be a good answer.
I... just giving you a forewarn.

How many times?
If it was zero, just tell me zero.

-And if you...
-[Judy] Shut.

-No, I'm looking this way.
-[Judy pounds bench]

-[Niyell mutters indistinctly]
-Just answer my question. How many times,

between the 14th of May
and the 19th of May,

did either of you complain to your
mother that your head hurt you?

-Don't speak.
-[chuckles]

How many... are you girls...

Because they can't even remember
what they had for dinner yesterday.

-Yeah, I don't... I'm not sure...
-[Judy] Okay.

-I'm gonna dismiss your case, period.
-I apologize.

[Judy] Do you understand?
You wanna answer my question.

-[Niyell] A few...
-How many times did you complain

to your mother that your head
hurt you between the 14th of May

-and the 19th of May?
-A few.

-Maybe three.
-[Judy] What?

-A few. At least three times.
-[Judy] A few.

Now, when you complained to your mother
and you told her that your head hurt you,

what did she do on the 14th,


-What did she do? Put the phone down.
-Oh.

What... look at me.
What did your mother do?

I don't... I don't remember.
Sorry, I don't remember.

-[Judy] You don't remember? So, sit down.
-I don't remember. Yeah, we don't...

-Okay. Sit down.
-[Judy] No, not her.

-She's standing.
-[someone chuckles]

When you complained
to your mother a few times,

I assume, where the ponytail was put,
when you told her that your head hurt you,

what did she do? And if she did nothing,
just say she did nothing. Listen to me.

Your case is gonna be dismissed.
Do you understand? Probably anyway.

But if you interfere with my
examination of a witness by coaching,

I'm gonna throw you out now.
I don't need it. Do you understand?

-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] Okay.

[theme music]

I took them for their skin.
I asked the doctor,

"Can you please look at the spot
that they have in their hair

because they have sores
from a ponytail they had?"

-She said whatever she needs to say...
-[Judy] The... pay attention to me.

-Don't look confused.
-I'm a little confused.

-[stammers] Don't look confused.
-[courtroom laughs]

[theme music]

[announcer] Quay Walden claims
hairdresser Franshon Fisher

injured her 16-year-old twin daughters
after she styled their hair.

Franshon is countersuing Quay
for defaming her online.

So I'm gonna ask you again.
when you told her that...

your mother, that your head hurt you,
what did your mother do?

And if she did nothing,
say she did nothing.

She was contacting Ms. Fran
to see if she can alternate it

or fix the ponytail,
but we were being ignored.

[Judy] No. What did your mother do
when you told her that your head hurt you?

She contacted Ms. Fran.

[Judy] She... well, what does... she was
an hour away. Your mother is your mother.

My child says to me,
"My head hurts where this thing is."

I say, "Well, just a minute.
I'm familiar with how to do that.

I can take it out and take a look at it
and see where it's hurting you."

Did your mother do that?
The answer is yes or no.

-No.
-[Judy] Good. Sit.

-[Quay] Can I say something, please?
-You can say whatever you want.

[Quay]
I just wanted to say this.

Initially, of course, I spent all this
money. I don't have it to be wasted.

So when they were saying
that the ponytails, I did loosen...

again, I took the pins out and stuff
and I just wrapped it around that way.

But when I took the ponytail
completely down,

-they had these sores all in the middle.
-[Judy] Just a second.

Your daughter just told
me that she told you,

that she told you that her head hurt.
Now, I don't know if that's true or not.

But if I had a daughter who said,

"My head hurts and I have some
sort of contraption in my head"...

-Mhm.
-...especially since the party's over,

I would say, since you told me before
you're totally familiar with this process...

-Yes.
-[Judy] ...I would say,

"Well, just a second. Let me take it out."
As you ultimately did.

-[Quay] Yes.
-Let me take it out.

You don't need the curls anymore.
Let me take it out.

And that's my fault,

-because I'm trying to save money.
-[Judy] That's your fault.

-I'm trying to save money and I have...
-[Judy] Well, then you saved money.

-So what do you bring me a lawsuit for?
-No. Can I please?

Then you were derelict
in your responsibility as a mother.

Well, as far as the ponytail,
when they were saying that, you know,

when it was... I was thinking, personally,
that when I take it completely down...

I didn't think... I didn't know
the severity that lied beneath.

Had I known the severity...
because this never happened before...

Well, how could she know the severity?
She didn't live with you...

-[Quay] Well, no.
-[Judy] ...or her.

[Quay] You know,
I didn't think it was that drastic.

But when I took it down completely,

I have the videos,
sores all in the middle of their head.

And that's because when she did the
hairstyle, what she did was she put the...

so this hairstyle usually take maybe
two hours. She finished in 40 minutes.

And she... what she did was, instead of
gluing every weft onto the hair ponytail,

to save time, and as they said,
her children were running around,

she was trying to get out of there,
she put the ponytail...

[Judy]
Just a second. You weren't there.

-[Quay] Well, they called me.
-[Judy] Just a second.

-They told you?
-[Quay] They called me.

[Judy] They called you. Just a second.
And the girls arrived late.

-She charged a late... put your hand down.
-[Quay] That's not true, ma'am.

-[Judy] The girl...
-That's not true.

-[Judy] Did you charge a late fee?
-Yes, I did. And I do have proof.

-[Judy] And did they pay the late fee?
-Yes. And I do have proof...

-Oh, okay. I'm sorry.
-...stating that she said...

-[Judy] What?
-...they will arrive at 6:03.

-I have it in...
-And the appointment was for what time?

[Franshon] It was at... I have the
appointment right here. It was at 5:30.

-And I have this. Yes.
-She's 100% correct.

[Judy]
Just a second.

-Don't... she's speaking.
-I apologize.

-I mean, yeah, she's correct.
-[Judy] Now... okay. So...

-Can I finish what I was saying?
-No. Now she's correct.

-Your daughters arrived late.
-[Quay] No, about the timing.

-About the timing.
-Your daughter's arrived late

-and you paid a late fee.
-Okay. Okay.

-[Judy] That's a yes?
-Yes, ma'am.

-[Judy] Okay.
-I'm sorry. This was last year.

I'm sorry that I wasn't... I didn't remember
that, but okay. They arrived late.

But you have to remember.
You already told me that the girls,

sometimes they remember,
and sometimes they don't remember.

Isn't that what you said?
Well, they don't remember.

They don't remember
what they had yesterday.

No, I said... 'cause they got
the memory like Dory.

Like, they can't even remember
what they ate for breakfast yesterday.

So I was just saying, so the way she
did the hair, she didn't glue the weft on.

She even said that she didn't do it
the way it was supposed to be done

because she wanted to save me
money on the quality bundles.

What should have been
the glued weft around the ponytail,

what she did was put
the rubber band extremely tight

and used the hairpins to hold the hair
together instead of gluing the weft.

When I took out the ponytail, I promise
you, the sores were so... I have video.

[Judy]
Just a second.

I want to see the letter
from the doctor where you took them.

-[Quay] Okay. So what I have as far as...
-No, no, don't tell me what you have.

-I said I wanna see the letter...
-So...

-[Judy] ...from the doctor. Did you...
-Can I please?

-[Quay] In May, I took them to see the...
-Ms. Walden, Ms. Walden...

-[Quay] So this is what I have.
-...Ms. Walden, pay attention.

-Yes. I'm very nervous and I have anxiety.
-[Judy] I don't care. I don't care.

-[courtroom laughs]
-I don't care.

-[Quay] Okay.
-If you were very nervous,

you shouldn't come on television.

-Absolutely.
-[Judy] Okay.

Did you take your daughters
to a dermatologist?

-Okay. So I took them to the... Yes,
-That's... that's either a yes...

-[Quay] But it wasn't for the bald spot.
-...Or a no.

I took them to the dermatologist and they
told me when I got here to tell you this.

-I took them to the...
-No, no, no.

You can't tell me what the
dermatologist told you, Ms. Walden.

-No, I'm talking about here.
-[Judy] Did you take, after May 19th,

-when you took down the ponytail...
-[Quay] Mhm.

did you take the girls
immediately to the doctor?

-No.
-[Judy] So the answer is no.

-On what date did you, for the sore... Ah!
-[Quay] So they went to the...

-I don't...
-[Judy] Pay attention.

On what date after May 19th
did you take the girls to a doctor

who is going to either testify
or submit something in writing?

Because you say in your complaint
in which you are requesting $5,500,

that as a result of their negligence,
they now have noticeable bald spots.

"I took them to a dermatologist

and it was confirmed that their hair
would never grow back in those spots."

-Mhm.
-[Judy] I want to see,

since you don't have
the dermatologist there,

I want the dermatologist's report,
that he saw the girls on what date,

what he found, and that this
hair is not gonna grow back.

-[Quay] Okay.
-Do you have that, yes...?

I have a letter from the
dermatologist that they gave me...

-[Judy] Fine. No. Don't...
-Here you go.

[Judy]
Just a second. May I see that?

This is March of 2024. I don't take that.

And that...
your producers asked me to go now.

-[Judy] Oh, I don't...
-I traveled to get that.

-[Judy] Return this. That's March.
-Okay.

-That's a... I'm speaking.
-[Quay] If you read it...

I'm not reading it.
It was prepared for litigation.

So what you're telling me, honestly,
with this terrible condition,

which you want her to pay $5,500 for you,

as the mother, never took
your daughters to a... Ah!

-Never took your daughters...
-That's not true.

I took them to the dermatologist.
They went for a skin treatment.

-They went to get a chemical peel...
-On what date?

[Quay]
This was the ending of May,

beginning of June. I don't...
I'm sorry, I don't have the exact date.

I took them for their skin.
I asked the doctor,

"Can you please look
at the spot that they have in their hair

because they have sores
from a ponytail they had."

-She said whatever she [indistinct]...
-The... pay attention to me.

-Don't look confused.
-I'm a little confused.

-[stammers] Don't look confused.
-[theme music]

Whitney, would you read back
to her the part where I started,

"If my daughters
complained to me for one day."

-Yeah. But the thing is though...
-[Judy] Don't... don't speak.

-But the thing...
-Just a second.

You're asking me, I'm answering you.
And then don't speak again. Zero.

[theme music]

[announcer] Quay Walden has accused
hairdresser Franshon Fisher

of injuring her twin daughters
after she styled their hair.

Franshon claims Quay defamed her online.

Now, if you took the girls
to the doctors in May...

-Yeah.
-[Judy] and what you're trying to say

is you took them
for a facial skin condition.

-Mhm.
-[Judy] And while you were there,

you said, in passing,
"Would you please look at their scalps?"

Then you should have, when you came today,
brought the report from that dermatologist

as to what that dermatologist
found in May of 2023.

What if they didn't make
any report of it or anything

because I was asking her to take a look at
it as... 'cause I was concerned about it?

Your case is dismissed. You have no case.

[Quay]
So what if... I can show you the pictures...

Your case is dismissed. You have no case.

-I have defamation of character.
-[Judy] We're done.

Just a second. Now, I'm gonna... excuse me.

She's absolutely right.
She has a defamation.

-[Quay] I put a...
-I'm speaking.

-You're done.
-Judge, can I please speak, please?

-[Judy] You're done.
-Because you didn't even let me...

I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying,
she has a permanent bald spot in her head.

-[Judy] Pay careful...
-The picture is literally right here.

-It's permanent.
-Pay careful attention to me.

It's not a coincidence they both
had sores in both of their heads.

-It was a technique that she did.
-[Judy] Okay. Ms. Walden...

-It's not coincidence.
-[Judy] Ms. Walden,

what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna
say to you what I really...

-[Quay] Okay. Mhm.
-...said subtly.

[Judy]
If my daughter went to a hairdresser,

who put in some sort of an extension,
and said to me, her mother,

the day after the event
and all the pictures were taken,

"Mommy, my head hurts," the first
thing that I would do as a mother

was take out whatever it was
that they were complaining about

and look at their scalps and say,
"Gee-whiz, this looks nasty."

Instead, you left it in for six days after
your daughter told you that her head hurt.

You left it in. Not her, you did.

-[Quay] But Judge Judy...
-[Judy] No, no, not a but.

-Your case is dismissed. You're done.
-[Quay] Okay.

-You're done.
-Alright.

[Judy]
Now, I'm going to the counterclaim,

and the counterclaim
is that you defamed her...

-[whispers] Absolutely not.
-[Judy] ...in her business.

-Okay. Ms. Fisher.
-Yes, Your Honor.

[Judy] I'd like to see your proof of what
you claim Ms. Walden did to defame you...

-[Franshon] Yes.
-...in your business.

-I have several posts.
-[Judy] May I see them, please?

-Sure. It's about two or three...
-You did a poor job.

-[Franshon] She also...
-Just a second.

-[Quay] Oh, I'm sorry.
-You want me to just throw you out?

-[Quay] Uh-uh.
-And then it's easy.

-Then I do your case easily.
-No worries. I'm good.

[Judy]
Alright. Very good. Okay.

-Before I look at these...
-Mhm.

[Judy] ...do you advertise
your service on the internet?

-Yes, I do, Your Honor.
-[Judy] Okay.

And you understand that if you advertise
your service on the internet,

people are going to rate your service,
they're going to be able to comment on it.

-Correct.
-[Judy] You do understand that?

-[Franshon] Yes.
-And some comments will be good

and some comments will be bad.

-You understand that?
-[Franshon] Yes, I am.

And you also understand
that if the comment is negative

because someone is dissatisfied with your
service, which is a subjective evaluation,

that they're gonna say,
"I was dissatisfied with the service."

-You do understand that?
-Yes, I do.

-[Judy] Okay. Now, with that...
-How...

-Judge Judy, can I please ask something?
-[Judy] I don't wanna hear you.

[Quay]
Can you please tell me this, please?

-I just wanna know that...
-[Judy] I just told you why.

[Quay]
What is the coincidence

as far as them both having sores
in their head after she did it?

-[Judy] Would you read back...
-That's not a coincidence. It's not.

Whitney, would you read back
to her the part where I started,

"If my daughters
complained to me for one day."

-Yeah. But the thing is though...
-[Judy] Don't... don't speak.

-But the thing...
-Just a second.

You're asking me, I'm answering you.
And then don't speak again. Zero.

She's gonna read back
to you why, starting with,

"If my daughters complained to me."
Can you start that, Whitney?

"If my daughter went to a hairdresser,
who put in some sort of an extension,

and said to me, her mother, the day after
the event, 'Mommy, my head hurts,'

the first thing that I would do
as a mother was take out whatever it was

that they were complaining about
and take a look at their... I'm speaking.

-And you're not speaking anymore."
-[courtroom laughs]

-"And..."
-[Quay] But I did...

"...look at their scalps and say,
'Gee-whiz, this looks nasty.'

-Instead you left it in for six days..."
-[Quay] But I took the hair pins off.

"...after your daughter told you
that her head hurt. You left it in."

-[Judy] Okay.
-Can we dismiss this without prejudice?

[Judy]
I don't wanna hear any more from you.

'Cause I can take her
elsewhere, and I will.

I don't wanna hear any more from you.

-[Quay] So, can we...
-Put her out.

-Great. Can we dismiss without prejudice?
-[Kevin] Okay. This way, this way.

-[Judy] Put her out. Absolutely not.
-This way, this way.

-Out with the girls.
-[Quay] But they... they're charging...

-overcharging to do two lulu...
-Out with the girls.

-Excuse me, this way.
-[Quay] ...it doesn't make sense.

Out with the girls.

-[Quay] Luxury prices to do poverty work.
-Out, out. I am... out.

-Out.
-[Judy] Could you do it, please?

So, because I didn't
take it out in three days,

-I'm not a good mother?
-[Judy] Out.

-She didn't do her service.
-[Judy] That's absolutely correct.

You just take it out on the first day.
Let's go.

-I can... I can carry my stuff.
-This way, this way, this way.

I can carry my stuff.

-This way. Go ahead. Just get that.
-I got it. Thank you.

[Judy] Okay. So this is much easier
to do a counterclaim with the noise gone.

[courtroom laughs]

[mutters] director, founder...
[normal] I don't know what this is about.

That is her profile
where she defamed me twice,

-so that was the quote...
-No. She said, "Unprofessionalism."

She said, "Sores. They have bald spots.
Sixteen-year-old girls.

-Reluctant to make things right..."
-Yes.

[Judy]
"...until she was blasted on social media."

She also had other people,
friends, aunties, whoever,

I have that as well, come into my DM,
defaming me and my business.

Well, that's too bad.
That has nothing to do with her.

Your counterclaim is dismissed.
We're finished with this case.

-Done.
-[Kevin] This court is adjourned.

-[theme music]
-Four days later, she texted me.

However, I did reach out to her first
on Monday asking her, "Can I see photos?

'Cause they were so happy.
I wanted to see what they look like."

Until the next day, her saying
all of these irrational things.

She will not be able to enter
my salon or be a client.

I think the best evidence of any situation
is how it was handled in the moment.

Not, as you said, in hindsight.

So in the moment, I agreed with you
that if I went to you and said,

"You know, something really doesn't
feel right. It feels really bad up there.

Something's poking me,
something's uncomfortable."

Take the whole thing out.

And at that moment,
she would've discovered the larger sores

as opposed to just removing
a few of the pins

and maybe trying
to shift it around a little bit.

-Maybe there were no sores. [laughs]
-[Sarah] Maybe there weren't at that time.

-There's no way to...
-Right.

There's no way to tell. So that
would be my best advice to people,

is, you know, at the time
when you first discover something,

act quickly, act promptly.

-If you are in a car accident...
-Sure.

[Judy] ...and you feel as if you're
injured, and if you go home,

and a month later you
decide to go to the doctor,

and you say, "By the way, is there
anything you can give me for my neck?"

-You know?
-Yeah.

"Last month, I was in a car accident."

-Yeah.
-[Judy] Yeah.

It was ridiculous.
What did you think about the defamation?

I think defamation is tricky
because I understand, as a business owner,

someone leaving negative reviews
is always gonna rub you the wrong way.

And someone leaving a negative review
when they were in fact a client of yours,

they did in fact get this service,

and these things did,
in fact, happen to them

and they're attributing it to you
is not necessarily defamation.

If they were never clients and they
made comments about your business,

or, you know, if they made allegations
about you personally as an individual

as opposed to the business or service
you provided, that could be defamation.

But just because someone says
something bad about you on the internet...

-On the internet.
-...does not automatically...

[Judy] You exposed...
'cause you've exposed yourself to that...

-[Sarah] Exactly.
-...by advertising on the internet.

Sure. Sure. So I think people should
really read the cause of action defamation

a little more closely
before they bring it.

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