A 31-year-old woman who filed a $2.5 million lawsuit against a Portland nail salon last week says she was in disbelief that she had become the second customer in two years to become infected with the genital herpes virus from a manicure at the salon.
“It’s quite embarrassing,” the woman, identified only as J.S. in her lawsuit, told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “I just went to get my nails done.”
The case is exceptionally rare because the genital herpes virus is seldom known to be transmitted through manicures and onto customers’ fingers.
J.S. also is suing the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon’s Health Licensing Office. Her suit alleges “incompetence” — claiming that state officials failed to yank the cosmetology license of PDX Nails or take other action that could have prevented J.S. from becoming exposed after the first customer acquired the virus.
That first customer, identified in court papers only as S.R., said she noticed she was infected within days of her 2023 manicure because painful blisters began to form around the nail of one of her fingers. She filed a $1.75 million lawsuit in 2024. She settled in July 2025 for an undisclosed amount.
The following month, in August 2025, J.S. said, she decided to get a manicure at PDX Nails for the first time, unaware of its history. The suit alleged that either the salon has continued to inadequately disinfect its manicure tools or it is “continuing to allow an employee” with the virus to groom customers’ nails.
State officials declined to comment. The owner of PDX Nails, also known as PDX Nails & Lashes, didn’t return a request for comment.
Weeks after J.S. said she got a manicure at the salon, she contacted The Oregonian/OregonLive, which was first to report about the first customer’s lawsuit. J.S. said she went to PDX Nails near Northeast 120th and Glisan Street to get a manicure and acrylic nails. The suit says she hadn’t had her nails done in three to four years.
“I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to treat myself to get my nails done,’” J.S. told the news organization. “I deserve a little self-care.”
The suit said the technician didn’t wear gloves and also gave J.S. a hand massage with lotion or oil. The suit also states that J.S. didn’t have any previous exposure to the virus.
The next day, the suit said, J.S. felt “an unusual burning and stinging sensation” along the side of her hand and pinky. A day after that, an itchy, fluid-filled blister formed that lingered for days, the suit said.
J.S. said she showed other people her hand and asked them if they knew what was going on.
“They were like, ‘Where did you get your nails done?’” J.S. recounted. “I was like ‘PDX Nails down on 122nd.’ And they were like, ‘No way. That place just had a lawsuit.’”
After those people filled her in, J.S. said, she exclaimed: “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
The suit said J.S. has since had new outbreaks, even though she takes antiviral medication to reduce the flare-ups. There is no cure.
PDX Nails operates two Portland locations. One of those locations was fined $500 by the state’s Health Licensing Office and Board of Cosmetology in 2021 for “failing to disinfect used tools” that “come in direct contact (with) a client.” An inspector also found “used drilling bits on the workstation.” The business also was fined another $500 for failing to properly clean foot spa equipment.
The state hasn’t found PDX Nails in violation or issued any fines since, including since the first customer said she was infected in 2023, according to state officials.
The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 13% of people ages 15-49 have the genital herpes virus, also known as herpes simplex virus 2. Though the virus is most often known for infecting the genitals, it occasionally infects other parts of the body, including the fingers.
Documented cases from manicures are highly unusual. In 2002, a jury awarded a Colorado woman $3.1 million after finding that she contracted herpes during a manicure with dirty instruments.
In J.S.’ interview last year, she told The Oregonian/OregonLive that she constantly washed her hands. As the mother of a baby, she said, she donned gloves before changing her daughter’s diaper. She said she lives in fear of transmitting the virus to someone else through touch.
“I’m worried that I might mess up somebody else’s life because of this,” she said.
It’s unclear what sort of insurance coverage PDX Nails might have. State tort claim caps, however, will limit the state’s liability to just above the $2.5 million that the suit is seeking.
The suit was filed by Portland attorney Amity Girt in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Girt also represented the first customer from two years earlier. Girt described two cases in roughly two years as “shocking.”
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