The Florida Department of Health has issued an Emergency Order preventing Carlos Ramos from practicing massage therapy on any female clients. The Order was issued after Ramos, a licensed massage therapist, was accused by two female clients of sexual misconduct. Ramos had worked until April 2018 at Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa (“Hand & Stone) in Naples, Florida. Ramos had previously worked at the Stillwater Spa in Bonita Springs, Florida at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point. According to the Department of Health, Ramos had been licensed to practice massage therapy since 2012.
This is not the first time a massage therapist of Hand & Stone in Naples has been disciplined by the Florida Department of Health for sexual misconduct. On April 27, 2018, massage therapist Carlos Amador relinquished his license after the Department of Health accused him of sexual misconduct with a 28-year old female client during an incident on May 24, 2017
According to the Emergency Order, Ramos was first accused of sexual misconduct after a February 21, 2016 appointment at the Stillwater Spa at the Hyatt Regency when he touched the vagina of a client exposed her buttocks and intergluteal cleft. The incident was reported to the manager of the Spa. Ramos later worked at Hand & Stone in Naples. According to the Emergency Order, during an appointment on April 8, 2018 at the the Stillwater Spa, Ramos massaged a different female client between her buttocks with his fingers. She reported the incident to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.
Clients of massage therapists are placed in isolated, vulnerable settings where they can be subject to abuse by their massage therapists. Due to the potential for abuse that is inherent under these circumstances, massage therapists must possess good judgment and good moral character in order to safely practice massage therapy and must refrain from placing their clients in situations that violate their safety and welfare.
Attorney Adam Horowitz has filed numerous sexual misconduct claims against massage therapists on behalf of clients who were inappropriately touched at Hand & Stone and other spas and resorts. A massage therapist is never permitted to have sexual contact with a client. If you have a been a victim of sexual assault or sexual battery during a massage, or if you know someone who has, please contact our law firm at (954) 641-2100 or send an email to sexual abuse lawyer Adam Horowitz at [email protected]