gucci mascara
photo: Instagram/aimeeemeno

Saks Fifth Avenue may be in deep legal trouble over what allegedly happened at its Gucci beauty counter in New York. Canadian Tracey Dunn visited the New York location and claims that a Gucci representative forcefully applied eyeliner to her eye, as reported by CTV News. Dunn also claims that the eyeliner and its aggressive application caused her pain, long-term vision issues, and even lash loss! In other words, Dunn is describing the ultimate beauty counter nightmare and it just may cost Saks Fifth Avenue and Gucci a couple of million dollars. 

According to the court filings, Dunn is accusing the Gucci representative at Saks Fifth Avenue of "reckless and negligent tortious behaviour." 

The lawsuit was filed with the New York County Supreme Court on July 22, 2019. "This action and complaint is also made as a result of the reckless and negligent application of a defective eyeliner product which was not fit for use and which the defendants knew or ought to have known could cause injury to the plaintiff," the filings read. "The defendants breached a duty of care owing to the plaintiff by failing to obtain her informed consent when they applied the defective eyeliner on the plaintiff."

The details in the court filings about exactly what pain Dunn claims she experienced are straight-up shocking.

photo: ABC

"During the sudden, abrupt and un-invited application of an eyeliner to the plaintiff, by the defendants, their employees, servants and/or agents the plaintiff suffered pain and an immediate eye injury, permanent loss of her eyelashes, a physical disfigurement, mental and emotional pain and suffering and a measurable loss of income," the court documents share.

Translation: Dunn alleges that she was immediately hurt by the way the Gucci representative applied the eyeliner to her face and continues to experience pain and other discomforts because of it. That's so terrible.

The lawsuit also provides very specific details about how the Gucci beauty counter attendant allegedly put the eyeliner on Dunn's eyes.

"[Name redacted], held himself out as a representative of Gucci and without warning nor the consent of the plaintiff, he coerced her for him to apply a Gucci eyeliner to her eyes. He claimed it was the 'new look,'" the documents continue. "[Name redacted] did not clean nor sharpen the eyeliner. He proceeded suddenly, forcefully,  and vigorously with a back and forth movement, with the application of the eyeliner to the inside and outside of her eyelids. Immediately the plaintiff’s eyes began hurting and watering." 

Um, that sounds painful as all heck. 

Although the alleged Gucci beauty counter incident happened in 2016, Dunn also alleges that she still experiences the negative effects.

photo: VH1

According to the documents, Dunn still suffers blurry vision. She also revealed that she has permanent eyelash loss. Per the documents, Dunn has visited multiple doctors including an ophthalmologist and a dermatologist. "To the date of this complaint the plaintiff still suffers with blurry vision, an inability to read for long periods of time, pain, soreness and sensitivity. Her physical appearance has been disfigured as she has no eyelashes," the filings report. 

So how much is Dunn suing Gucci and Saks Fifth Avenue for her devastation?

photo: Netflix

Dunn is suing Gucci for $250,000 for damages and $1,000,000 for her loss of income. For punitive damages, she's seeking $500,000. That's $1.75 million, by the way. If her severe discomfort and financial troubles were truly caused by her encounter at the beauty counter, then it seems like she deserves all of this and more. For the record, it's not OK for any person working a beauty counter to apply makeup to a person's face without their consent. If a professional *does* receive consent, it's important to be gentle with clients and to listen to them when they ask you to stop or to change up how you're touching them. 

That goes beyond cosmetics; it's basic customer service, common sense, and consideration. 

Some critics on Twitter are side-eyeing the entire lawsuit.

This is the case whenever anyone files a lawsuit against any entity and the news makes it to Twitter. "She was coerced into having make-up applied and the make-up artist wouldn't stop when asked to? Was she tied to a chair and unable to get up and walk away? Was she deprived of her free will in the middle of a department store for some reason?" one person questioned. 

Although it's easy to wonder why the woman didn't just get up and leave, some people simply aren't as assertive as others. People also have very different reactions when they are shocked. Some people freeze up. All of this is possible. 

Another critic wants to know why Dunn is suing Saks Fifth Avenue and Gucci in 2019 when the incident happened in 2016.

"This happened three summers ago and she is only suing them now," one person wrote. It's possible that she had to save up the money for a lawyer or couldn't find a lawyer to take her case immediately. There are lots of legit reasons why a person would file a lawsuit a couple of years after an incident. 

It's true that people try to scam corporations with questionable lawsuits. That doesn't mean that it's impossible that Dunn was mistreated and deserves to be compensated for her alleged discomfort. Let's hope everything just works out for the best.