A Benton man who recently withdrew from that city's mayoral race also recently dropped a lawsuit in which he claimed that a North Little Rock nail salon was responsible for his right little toe being amputated.
Gene Gentry's lawsuit against Tara's Nails & Spa at 3321 John F. Kennedy Blvd. was scheduled to be tried on Thursday in Pulaski County Circuit Court, but Gentry dropped the suit at the last minute.
There was no settlement agreement mentioned in court documents, and an attorney for the salon confirmed that the case wasn't settled -- just dismissed, permanently, by Gentry.
Gentry's attorney, Connie Grace of Little Rock, refused to comment Friday on why Gentry dropped the suit, saying, "I can't disclose anything that's attorney-client privileged."
But Roy Sanders, an attorney representing the nail salon, said, "We didn't think the case had any merit to start with."
Sanders said that owners of the salon "categorically denied" that they did anything to harm Gentry when he visited the salon with friends in 2012 for a pedicure. Sanders said that while Gentry claimed the pedicurist cut his foot, and that the wound later became infected, even the friends who were with him that day have said they never noticed any injuries on his feet, nor heard Gentry speak of any. They have also said that he seemed "very pleased" with the pedicure, Sanders said.
Sanders said that the salon is always extra-careful with clients who are diabetic, as is Gentry.
A related federal case in which the salon's insurance company sought guidance on its duty to defend the salon was similarly dropped this week because it is now moot, Sanders said.
Gentry, who also uses the name Eugene W. Gentry, told an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter on Wednesday that he had dropped out of the mayor's race in Benton, leaving incumbent David Mattingly unopposed in the November election. He cited "personal reasons" when he formally withdrew his name at the Saline County clerk's office, but later told a reporter he changed his mind for a variety of reasons, including media coverage biased toward incumbents and residents' lack of participation in local government.
Gentry, a 67-year-old retiree, said he initially decided to run for the position, which pays $68,000 annually, after another potential candidate decided not to run.
Mattingly, 72, has held the mayor's seat since 2011.
Metro on 09/06/2014