A Chicago woman has sued Massage Envy and the owners and managers of one of its Chicago franchise studios, claiming she was sexually assaulted two years ago when a now-fired massage therapist improperly touched her during a massage session.
The woman, identified only as a 31-year-old Chicago resident, is the third woman to file suit against the Chicago Massage Envy franchise, legally known as Parkside Strategic Enterprise Inc. According to the complaint, Parkside operates a Massage Envy location at 1222 N. Wells St., Chicago, known as Massage Envy Old Town – Gold Coast.
The previous two lawsuits, also filed by two women, each identified only as Jane Doe, were filed about one year ago.
Margaret Battersby Black
| Levin & Perconti
All the plaintiffs in the lawsuits are represented by attorneys from the firm of Levin & Perconti, of Chicago.
The lawsuit also names as defendants the massage therapist who allegedly committed the assault, the owners of Parkside, a manager at the location where the incident is alleged to have occurred, and the Massage Envy corporate entity through which Massage Envy studios are franchised.
According to the new complaint, the woman went to the Old Town-Gold Coast Massage Envy location for a “therapeutic massage” session on Nov. 27, 2019.
During the massage, the lawsuit asserts a male massage therapist allegedly caused the blanket over her back to fall off of her, exposing her. He then allegedly massaged under her underwear, and allegedly touched her genitals without consent.
According to the complaint, the woman notified the Old Town-Gold Coast Massage Envy of the alleged incident, but management at the studio allegedly did not report the incident to police until late December 2019.
The complaint asserts that massage therapist allegedly “went on to assault several women” in the meantime.
According to the complaint, front desk employees at that Massage Envy location reported numerous complaints by female customers against that massage therapist, including “inappropriately touching women and exposing various parts of their bodies including breasts and buttocks.”
According to the complaint, the Massage Envy franchise owners and management did not conduct proper background checks on that therapist before hiring him, which allegedly would have revealed he had been fired from a Massage Envy location in Elmhurst, and had been placed on a Do Not Hire list within Massage Envy’s human resources system.
According to the complaint, the massage therapist was ultimately fired. But the owners and management of that location allegedly did not report the incident to either Chicago Police or state regulators.
The lawsuit asserts the Massage Envy franchising parent corporation shares vicarious liability for the alleged misconduct at the Chicago location.
She is represented by attorney Margaret Battersby Black, of Levin & Perconti.