Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen attorney Alex Arteaga-Gomez has been featured in Yahoo! Finance and several other outlets for filing a negligence lawsuit against Massage Envy on behalf of his client.
The female client, who wishes to remain anonymous, was sexually assaulted by a male massage therapist, David Egusquiza while receiving treatment at the spa’s Coral Gables location in 2016.
Four days after the occurrence, she reported the attack to the spa giant’s management office, but the company did little to rectify the situation and Egusquiza was allowed to continue at work. Months later, he committed sexual assault on another female patron at the same location.
When the first victim learned that Massage Envy’s failure to terminate this employee resulted in yet another sexual assault, she hired Alex and GRYC to hold the spa’s management responsible.
The case, which was filed in February 2019, charges Massage Envy with one count of negligent hiring and negligence in its policies and training.
To make matters worse, the therapist has a history of domestic violence that predates both sexual assault incidents. He was arrested on felony charges for strong-arm robbery and grand theft prior to being hired by the spa.
“There is a custom and practice of underplaying sexual assault and of protecting the company from law enforcement scrutiny,” Alex Arteaga-Gomez said in his interview published by Yahoo. “Massage Envy has inadequate screening measures for looking into therapists’ backgrounds and that must change.”
For more information on this case, please reference this Yahoo article, which was originally published by the Daily Business Review. Alex and GRYC’s lawsuit against Massage Envy was also featured in the Miami Herald, Florida Record, Miami New Times, and the South Florida broadcast networks NBC 6 and Telemundo 51.
If you or a loved one has endured a tragedy similar to this and needs legal representation, the attorneys of Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen can help.
