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Guilty by Association? Yes, in NY

New York bill # SO6884 has been mentioned a number of times in the past few weeks by some NY therapists on my FB page. To make a long story short, a massage therapist may have their license revoked if, within a
two-year period, three or more people have been caught engaging in
prostitution on the premises. That doesn’t mean YOU have to be caught
engaging in prostitution; it just means anyone in the same building you
work in.

This is scary to me. They are assuming guilt by association. If you work in a place with multiple therapists, do you make a habit of opening the door during their sessions to see what they’re doing? Especially in
a big spa where there may be dozens of people working, how can you be
expected to be responsible for what other people do? You can’t.

A therapist from a now-defunct small chain of spas in NC appeared before our state board a couple of years ago, charged with a sexual offense, which he immediately admitted to. His defense was that he
thought the client was sexually excited and he was doing her a favor.

The owner of the spa was mortified, of course, and stated that over the course of several years that he had worked for her, that he had been very popular with the female clientele and that a number of women had
described his massage as “simply orgasmic.” She stated she never
realized that it was meant in the literal sense. His license was
revoked and he was fired on the spot. His co-workers were shocked. None
of them had a clue that he was performing hanky-panky along with the
massage. Why should they be expected to?

Massage therapy takes place behind closed doors. An unethical therapist could feasibly get by for years doing anything he/she wants to do, until a client comes forward and complains. To hold those
therapists who abide by the code of ethics and observe the boundaries
expected in a therapeutic relationship responsible for the behavior of
those who don’t doesn’t seem like a fair shake to me.

I hope the government representatives from our professional associations won’t drop the ball on this one, and that every legitimate massage therapist in New York will call your legislators and complain
about this bill.

Penalizing those who follow the rules, stripping them of their license because someone down the hallway was doing something wrong, and lumping them into the same category as prostitutes sounds like bad
government to me.

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Permalink Reply by Tina Myers on April 2, 2010 at 3:51pm

Thanks for posting this. I'm an MT student right now and that's one of the things we worry about, having coworkers who do this kind of stuff and then we get looked down on. We're lucky enough to have teachers who aren't afraid to discuss this kind of thing and try to kind of guide us on how to avoid it or stop it. Unfortunately I'm not in NY so I doubt that I can do anything over there, but thanks all the same, I didn't even consider checking to see if such a law existed here until I read this. :)

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Permalink Reply by Relax & Rejuvenate on April 6, 2010 at 2:29pm

You also have to keep in mind local conditions/situations.

Firstly, NYC has a wonderful thing called a "Physical Cultural Establishment" license that is required of any business offering massage therapy, personal training, sauna/steam/baths or gymnasium services to the public.

Secondly, NYC is also famous for businesses that are little more than a suite of rooms that they lease out to MTs -or those posing as MTs - by the hour. For MTs who may have a PT or almost FT job but want to grow their own practice without a fixed lease obligation, this is a great deal. Walk in, walk out set up -- everything provided.

Problem is, any one can call and book these rooms without showing their MT license since they could say they are "energy workers", "aura readers" or any other sort of unlicensed healing art, but are in fact nefarious in nature.

Like most governments, NY is trying to cure the patient by killing them. Just wait to see what happens when the government is involved with actual patients.

Reminds me of the recent move by Marriott Hotels to ban all in-room massage in their hotels nationwide because of the "Craigslist Killer" fiasco in Boston last year. Prostitute, posing as an MT, checks into Marriott Copley Place hotel with a massage table. No one from security asks to see her license, asks what she is doing with a massage table on their property -- just let her roll up to the front desk, check in and set up shop in her room.

She gets shot by some whack job, and Marriott's Legal Dept decides the way to prevent the guests, who happen to be prositutes posing as massage therapists -- from getting killed on property is to ban legitimate massage therapists from coming to their guest rooms...

Make sense, most gov't legislators are lawyers, so only in the mind of a lawyer does any of this make sense.