Two weeks after a South Carolina woman said she was left disfigured following a tattoo at Black Ink in Harlem, a second customer has come forward with a similar complaint and filed her own lawsuit.
According to the New York Daily News, the 31 year old woman says she visited Black Ink Tattoo Studio, the Lenox Avenue shop featured on the VH1 series Black Ink Crew, for her sixth tattoo because she is a fan of the show. She told the paper she got her first tattoo at the shop in January 2014 and was happy with it.
She says she returned about three months later for a custom rose design on her forearm. She told the Daily News the artist, Kelvin, left for an event about three hours into the session and asked her to come back the next day to finish. She says that when she returned, a tattoo gun was already set up, which she said was unusual because she had seen artists set up in front of customers before.
The woman says the finished tattoo looked the way she wanted, but that three days later she was in severe pain, with swelling and oozing. She told the paper she was hospitalized for four days while doctors treated a deep infection, and that she now believes a dirty tattoo pen was used. She said she texted the artist about the pain and that he told her she would feel better in a couple of days.
The Daily News reports that she is suing the shop for unspecified damages. Her attorney, Mark Shirian, is also calling for tougher regulation of tattoo shops in New York City. The paper says this is the third lawsuit brought against the shop. The allegations have not been proven, and a response from the shop was not included in the Daily News report.
Source: New York Daily News.
