CHARLESTON – A woman says she was sexually assaulted by a Massage Envy massage therapist.
The plaintiff, identified only as Jane Doe M.M., filed her complaint April 4 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Massage Envy Franchising, CM Baratz Enterprises LLC doing business as Massage Envy Morgantown, Christopher Baratz as well as unnamed business entities and unidentified individuals.
The 50-page complaint includes a detailed history of allegations of sexual misconduct by Massage Envy therapists and efforts the chain has taken nationally to educate employees, to stop such incidents from happening and to hide the fact such incidents had occurred.
Jesse W. Forbes
| forbeslawwv.com
“With the national spotlight on sexual assault in recent years, you would hope the message gets through that better safeguards are needed and particularly more background checks and safety protocols put in place,” attorney Jesse Forbes told The West Virginia Record. “Unfortunately, this case demonstrates once again that it hasn’t happened.
“In fact, if simple common sense standards had been followed, this entire incident could have been prevented. When someone pays for massage therapy, there are expectations of a safe environment. Tragically, this environment was anything but safe. A person should never feel threatened or concerned that they will be assaulted when they pay for therapy.
“Horrifically, our client will be faced now with a lifetime of the impact of this assault and it’s time for a change.”
According to the complaint, the plaintiff had a massage October 12, 2021, at the Massage Envy location in Morgantown. Francisco Valenzuela, who had massaged her five times previously, was assigned to her again.
“M.M. told Valenzuela that she had psoriatic arthritis and needed stress relief,” the complaint states. “As the massage continued, Valenzuela sexually assaulted Jane Doe M.M.”
After the massage, the plaintiff says she reported the assault to the manager on duty, who said company policy was that employees were not allowed to call 911. So she called police while Valenzuela still was at the store. Days later, she returned to the store to cancel her membership.
Valenzuela was arrested and charged with second degree sexual assault. He was convicted August 2, 2022, of unlawful assault. The court determined the conduct was sexually motivated, and Valenzuela was sentenced to 1-5 years of incarceration.
The complaint says the defendants knowingly hired massage therapists who were psychologically unfit to provide massage therapy services to unsuspecting, vulnerable female customers. It says the defendants knew or should have known some of their employees were sexual predators and/or mentally ill.
The plaintiff accuses the defendants of vicarious liability, negligence per se, negligent infliction of emotional distress, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, negligent performance of undertaking to render services, civil conspiracy and violation of the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act. She also accuses Massage Envy Franchising and Massage Envy Morgantown of negligence.
She says she has suffered and will suffer great pain of mind and body, shock, emotional distress, physical manifestations of emotional distress, embarrassment, loss of self-esteem, disgrace, humiliation and loss of enjoyment of life. She also says she has been prevented from performing daily activities and obtaining full enjoyment of life. She also claims loss of earnings and earning capacity as well as expenses for medical and psychological treatment, therapy and counseling.
“As the complaint alleges, these defendants failed time and again to put safeguards in place and ignored red flag after red flag with respect to this potential perpetrator,” Forbes told The Record. “When a customer pays for massage therapy, they should be free from the worry that they will be sexually assaulted and tormented. For a young person to put their trust and faith into a nationally known business as a customer and then have that trust completely shattered is tragic. The horrific effects of this assault will continue to live with our client long after the perpetrator is prosecuted.”
Forbes said the defendants not only missed the warning signs, but they also ignored the environment that allowed an abuser “to run rampant and attack our client when she was most vulnerable.”
“When you allow wolves to roam with no safeguards in place, you must be held accountable,” Forbes said. “This sort of conduct should never be tolerated in our society. Our client has been tremendously brave through the criminal process with respect to this attacker but is even more so by pursuing civil justice through this action and trying not only to help right some of the wrong perpetrated on her, but also to cast light on these dangerous problems so that, hopefully, no one else is victimized when they go in for something as simple as massage therapy.
“Our client deserves justice, and through that justice we hope that changes are made so that this doesn’t happen to someone else’s child, parent or loved one. It was a horrific attack, but the true tragedy is just how easily preventable it may have been.”
The plaintiff seeks joint and several compensatory damages for economic and non-economic losses, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, court costs, attorney fees, expenses and other relief.
She is being represented by Forbes of Forbes Law Offices in Charleston as well as by V. Paul Buci, Brin D. Kent, M. Stewart Ryan and Alexandra MacMaster of Laffey Bucci & Kent in Philadelphia. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Duke Bloom.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 23-C-293
