On March 31, 2021, the Florida Department of Health issued an Emergency Order restricting the massage therapy license of Yahil Suarez Oliva on account of alleged sexual misconduct at Massage Envy in the Sheridan Plaza franchise in Hollywood, Florida. The Order prohibits Yahil Suarez Oliva from practicing massage therapy on female clients in the State of Florida. The Emergency Order was entered in response to a sexual misconduct complaint by a female client. Oliva has been a licensed massage therapist in Florida since November 2018.
On November 24, 2020, Oliva was employed at a Massage Envy located at 5081 Sheridan St, Hollywood, FL 33021 (Sheridan Plaza). On that day, Suarez Oliva provided a 60-minute massage to a 46-year-old female client. The client undressed and laid face down on the table with a sheet covering her buttocks. When Oliva entered the room, he uncovered one side of her buttocks.
During the massage, Suarez Oliva allegedly touched and grazed the client’s breast multiple times. At one point, he directed his client to flip over on her back and lay face up. According to the Emergency Order, the victim complained of sharp shooting pain in her groin area. Oliva began massaging the area with one hand, and with the other hand, he penetrated the client’s vagina using one or more fingers. He then reportedly walked by her side and rubbed his erect penis on the client’s arm and shoulder area. As he continued to massage her, the victim told him “don’t touch me,” then got up and got dressed. The Order states that the client suffered from panic attacks for months thereafter.
When clients schedule a massage, it is to decompress from the stresses of life. They trust that the massage therapists employed at the spa are carefully vetted and safe to engage with the public. It is unacceptable, immoral, and unlawful for any employee to touch a client in a sexual manner. 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 those circumstances, massage therapists must possess good judgment and good moral character in order to safely practice massage therapy.
Horowitz Law has filed numerous sexual assault lawsuits against massage therapists on behalf of clients who were inappropriately touched at Massage Envy franchises and other spas and resorts. If you have 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 888-283-9922 or send an e-mail to sexual abuse lawyer Adam Horowitz for massage clients at [email protected] for a free consultation.