A 40-year-old Portland man says a single pedicure left him without his big toe and roughly half of his foot, after an infection he blames on unsterilized salon tools spiraled out of control. Nathan Fields is now suing the business that gave him the pedicure, seeking $913,000 in damages.
Fields alleges a nail technician at Eden Salon & Spa, located next to Clackamas Town Center in the Happy Valley area, “severely cut” his big toe during a March 2025 pedicure, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive. It was Fields’ first pedicure at the salon, and he says he told the technician beforehand that he had lived with diabetes since he was 17. The outlet reported the lawsuit was filed last month in Multnomah County Circuit Court, though the headline on the report rounds the requested damages down to $900,000 while the article text cites the $913,000 figure.
A Cut That Would Not Heal
According to the lawsuit, the cut on Fields’ toe never healed properly and instead showed signs of infection and inflammation. Fields sought medical treatment, but the infection advanced to the point that doctors first had to remove his big toe, and later amputated approximately half of his foot at the arch, the same report states. The suit alleges Eden Salon & Spa knew of the risks that toe cuts and unclean pedicure tools pose to diabetic customers.
Fields’ attorney, Damian Idiart, said his client could reasonably have expected to keep his foot intact absent a severe cut or other major injury. Idiart described Fields as having been an athletic, basketball-playing man before the infection took hold. The attorney said Fields used to work as a mover but is no longer physically able to do that job.
Lingering Physical Toll
Idiart told OregonLive that Fields “can’t run, jump or walk well” and that he “can’t even really drive his vehicle without difficulty.” The attorney also said Fields now deals with constant aches and cramps as a result of the amputations. The lawsuit seeks $113,000 to cover medical bills and an additional $800,000 for pain and suffering.
OregonLive reported that it reached out to Eden Salon & Spa for comment but did not hear back. Oregon’s Health Licensing Office describes nail technicians as providing services that include cutting, trimming, cleaning, massaging, polishing, coloring or tinting natural nails on the hands and feet, according to the Oregon Health Authority’s cosmetology board page. A separate fact sheet from Oregon OSHA notes that pedicure bowls should be disinfected after each client and that tools should be cleaned and sanitized for a minimum of 15 minutes, with disposable nail products used on only one customer, though it is not established in this case whether those practices were followed.
Not the First Portland Nail Salon Lawsuit
Fields’ case is not the only recent legal complaint against a Portland-area nail salon. A 31-year-old Multnomah County woman alleged she contracted herpes after a walk-in acrylic-nail appointment at PDX Nails on Northeast Glisan Street in August 2025, according to KATU. The station also reported that a different woman had sued the same salon in 2024 over an alleged infection tied to a 2023 manicure, a case that was dismissed in 2025 after a confidential settlement.
Toe amputations tied to salon pedicures have surfaced elsewhere as well. In California, a nail salon negligence claim reportedly settled for $300,000 after an infection following a pedicure led to the partial amputation of a customer’s big toe, according to a case summary from Habbas & Associates. No court filings or independent medical records in Fields’ case have been made public, and Eden Salon & Spa has not responded publicly to the allegations against it.
