Business
Former medispa owner wins judgment
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted June 25, 2007
A former Sona MedSpa franchisee was awarded nearly $400,000 after he sued the company, alleging he was duped into opening a franchise on the basis of faulty information.
According to a statement released by the plaintiff's attorney, Michael Garner, his client Kempton J. Coady invested in Sona due to claims that its laser hair removal concept would permanently remove 93% to 97% of unwanted hair in five treatments. Coady invested in a franchise and repeated the claim to clients.
An arbitrator in Atlanta held Nashville, Tenn.-based Sona, as well as an executive and a group of investors who later bought the franchisor from Jones, liable for not correcting the misleading information.
The arbitrator found Sona "did not exercise reasonable care in obtaining reliable evidence about the validity" of the claims it was making about the hair removal system. Sona and its executives and investors did not admit guilt.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/06/25/bibf0625.htm.