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A national beauty chain with a location on the Upper East Side is facing a federal discrimination lawsuit after two Black customers — a mother and her 7-year-old daughter — were allegedly refused service by employees who said they don’t do their “kind of hair.”
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The plaintiffs, Lauren Smith and her daughter, identified in court papers only as C.M., are both professional models who had confirmed appointments at the Ulta Beauty salon at 188 East 86th Street on July 6, 2025, ahead of an afternoon photoshoot. According to the lawsuit, filed March 11 in federal court in Manhattan and first cited by Gothamist, the pair arrived on time and waited roughly 10 minutes before a male stylist informed them that their assigned stylist, identified as “Jessica C.,” would not be doing their hair. When Smith pressed for an explanation, she was told the stylist “doesn’t have experience with YOUR kind of hair,” as noted in the suit.A key detail in the complaint: both Smith and her daughter were wearing hats that completely covered their hair at the time. According to the lawsuit, no employee asked to see or examine their hair at any point during the encounter.
Store manager Mohammed Salam confirmed the refusal, telling Smith the stylist was “not comfortable” with their “texture of hair,” the complaint states. When Smith asked about alternative stylists, Salam said he had no one available and declined to call in additional staff. He also told the pair they should have specified “what kind of hair” they had when booking — a requirement Smith says does not exist in Ulta’s booking system.
The encounter ended with Smith’s daughter leaving the store in tears, asking, “What is wrong with my hair?” and “Why can’t I go there if there are brown girls on the walls?” — a reference to the diverse models featured in Ulta’s in-store advertising.
The lawsuit, filed by attorney Wendy Dolce of Dolce Law PLLC, alleges violations of federal civil rights law, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law, all of which prohibit discrimination based on traits historically associated with race, including hair texture. The complaint also cites a New York State cosmetology licensing law that, as of May 2024, requires licensed stylists to be trained and competent to service all hair types — meaning, the suit argues, the stated refusal had no legal basis.
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The complaint further alleges that Ulta deleted Smith’s booking record from its system after the incident, which the lawsuit characterizes as obstruction of evidence.The suit is seeking monetary and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief — including mandatory anti-discrimination training for all Ulta salon staff at New York State locations and the appointment of compliance officers to handle discrimination complaints.
A full copy of the complaint is available here.
The lawsuit also situates the incident within what it calls a broader pattern of racial discrimination at Ulta locations nationwide, pointing to a 2019 episode in which employees publicly alleged that management directed racial profiling of Black and Latino customers, a 2020 New Jersey incident, and a 2024 Florida case. Online reviews of the East 86th Street location cited in the complaint include accounts from Black and Latina customers describing surveillance and disparate treatment.
Ulta Beauty describes itself on its website as the nation’s largest specialty beauty retailer, with approximately 1,500 locations, and states a commitment to “creating a more inclusive world.”
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