THE Real Housewives of Salt Lake City alum Monica Garcia has filed an appeal after a judge ordered her to hand over $35,000 to former friend Heather Gay’s company Beauty Lab and Laser.
According to court documents exclusively obtained by The U.S. Sun, Monica’s attorney filed a Notice of Appeal on November 18.
The one-page document claimed the former RHOSLC star “appeals the judgment in this case to the Utah Supreme Court.”
On November 19, a letter was filed by the Supreme Court of Utah and sent to attorneys, informing them that the case will be transferred to the Utah Court of Appeals and that going forward, documents must be filed with the appellate court clerk.
The court warned, “Failure to perfect an appeal at any time during the appeal process may result in dismissal of the appeal.”
In response to the appeal filing, Monica’s attorney told The U.S. Sun, “We are still confident of the result.”
BITTER LEGAL BATTLE
The U.S. Sun broke the news that a Utah judge had signed off on Heather Gay’s company’s proposed judgment on November 4, seemingly resolving the lawsuit more than a year after it was first filed.
Monica, 40, was ordered to pay over $35k to Beauty Lab and Laser, which includes the principal amount that the company initially sued for in August 2023, $2,000, plus pre-judgment interest at 18 percent per year (from February 2020 until October 2024).
In addition, Monica was charged a $15 late fee, costs and fees of $604.98 associated with the lawsuit, and attorney’s fees totaling $31,550.
This all led to a total of $35,853.60.
Furthermore, the medical spa was able to collect post-judgment interest at the rate of 18 percent per annum until the judgment is fully satisfied, as indicated in the court docs.
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FIRING BACK
Monica’s attorney Larry Reed previously told The U.S. Sun in response to the judgment being entered, “An appeal will be filed. We are confident.”
He argued in documents from October, obtained by The U.S. Sun, “The amount of fees sought by plaintiff is greatly excessive in view of the amount in dispute in this action.”
The initial complaint was for $2,000, which the lawyer pointed out is “only 13% of the Small Claims limit of $15,000.”
On November 6, Monica took to her Instagram to share her thoughts on the judgment.
“I would say that I was surprised by the disgusting hateful comments online rejoicing in my ‘downfall,’ but after seeing the decisions happening around us, I’m not surprised at all.
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“Hate, discrimination, the desire to destroy, and glorify in people’s pain has absolutely taken over this nation,” she wrote in her Instagram story.
She went on to say that despite what was going on her daughters “are healthy” and she stays “so grateful and blessed for every opportunity I’ve been given.”
“There is so much in my life happening that I have to be thankful and that I’m so excited about. At the end of the day, being sued by someone is minuscule in the grand scheme of things,” she continued.
“I am not the first housewife/bravolebrity to be in this situation, nor will I be the last. Believe me when I say, we have so much more to worry about.”
Meanwhile, Heather has yet to react to the news or issue a statement.
EXPLOSIVE LAWSUIT
In November 2023, The U.S. Sun exclusively reported that Heather’s company had filed a lawsuit against Monica for breach of contract and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
The medical spa, which has two locations in Utah, detailed in the court docs that Monica allegedly signed a contract with them on December 10, 2019, to pay $2,449 for cosmetic injection services.
According to the docs, Monica only paid the initial payment of $449, which included the $49 set-up fee and $400 down payment.
She then was supposed to make $200 monthly payments for the next 10 months, but never did.
Beauty Lab argued that they “suffered, and continues to suffer, significant losses and damages.” They requested the court to determine at trial how much- “not less than $2,000”- Monica should hand over, “plus reasonable attorney’s fees, and other remedies provided by statute or contract.”
Monica fired back at Beauty Lab by filing a counterclaim in her response to the complaint that was filed in September 2023.
She sued Beauty Lab for breach of independent duty of care, breach of contract, and breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing.
She explained she didn’t continue to make additional payments because she believed she received “botched” injections and had to go to another “competent party to fix the damage” to her nose and lips, despite Beauty Lab offering to fix the damages.
Monica’s counterclaim lawsuit was dismissed on January 17 of this year, as previously reported by The U.S. Sun, since her claim is “time-barred by the statute of limitations” and she “failed to obtain a certificate of compliance from the Division of Professional Licensing.”
HOUSEWIFE NO MORE
Monica made her debut as a cast member on RHOSLC when season four premiered in September 2023.
After an explosive season finale, she was outed by the group for running the Instagram gossip account, Reality Von Tease, and she was sent home in Bermuda, being labeled a “villain.”
Monica was fired and did not return to season 5, which premiered in September 2024.
The current cast includes Lisa Barlow, Mary Cosby, Heather Gay, Angie Katsanevas, Meredith Marks and Whitney Rose, along with newbies Bronwyn Newport, Britani Bateman and Meili Workman.
In the recently released midseason trailer, Whitney informed the group that she “reached out to Monica,” seemingly stirring the pot and causing more drama.
New episodes of RHOSLC air every Wednesday at 9pm ET on Bravo.
