Massage Envy clients complain of abuse, sexual misconduct - Orlando Sentinel

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Two Orlando-area massage therapists who worked for one of the largest spa chains in the country are now facing criminal charges after clients accused them of sexual misconduct.

The victim in the most recent case reported the incident in August 2014 after she said Frederick Dost, her masseur at Massage Envy in Dr. Phillips, groped her breasts and touched his genitals to her head. It took more than two years for prosecutors to file charges against Dost.

The case is the second against a Massage Envy employee in Central Florida within the past seven months. Prosecutors in December filed a sexual battery charge against licensed massage therapist Cesar Guerrero, who worked at a Winter Garden franchise, after a woman reported he sexually assaulted her with his hand.

More than 1,000 Massage Envy locations span 49 states, employing more than 25,000 therapists and estheticians, according to the company's website. It espouses a zero-tolerance policy for "inappropriate physical contact with or touching of a member/guest," according to an employee code of conduct made available in a civil lawsuit against Dost. Massage Envy did not immediately provide a comment.


"Every time [Massage Envy] is made a party to one of these cases, they trot out the same statements to the media that they have a no tolerance policy," said Ft. Lauderdale attorney Adam Horowitz, who represented Dost's victim in a civil case. "We have direct evidence that Massage Envy didn't follow their procedures, and that they retained an employee who was accused of sexual misconduct."


The company reached a confidential agreement in that case, according to Orange County Circuit Court records. It's connected to the same incident over which Dost now faces a misdemeanor charge. During his investigation, Horowitz said he found a complaint filed against Dost by a woman at the same Massage Envy in 2013.

The woman complained to a manager that she "felt violated" after Dost touched her breasts and went between them, according to an internal incident report provided by Horowitz. The manager immediately suspended Dost, noting that he failed to get verbal authorization before touching her breasts, and she did not give written consent for that work, the document states. The manager also put Dost on probation, required him to undergo training and issued a written warning.

Dost continued to work there until Aug. 8 2014 when the woman in the current criminal case immediately notified the Orange County Sheriff's Office about her groping. Detectives sent the case to prosecutors in December 2014 concluding that probable cause existed to charge Dost with battery. Massage Envy fired Dost after the incident.

"At that time, the evidence was not suitable for prosecution," said Angela Starke, a spokeswoman for the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office.

Nearly a year and a half later, a different woman who got a massage from Dost at a business called Massage Experience in Siesta Key reported he "removed his genitals from his pants, rubbed, or touched" her face, neck and shoulder with his genitals, according to a Florida Department of Health complaint.

Horowitz is also representing the victim in that civil case, which was filed in Sarasota. No settlement has been reached yet.

The DOH issued an emergency order in May restricting Dost from practicing on females. The Board of Physical Therapy has not determined yet whether to revoke his license, said Brad Dalton, deputy press secretary at DOH.

As for Guerrero, the second Massage Envy employee facing criminal charges, he voluntarily relinquished his license, Dalton said. Guerrero's criminal case remains open.

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