Woman With HIV Files Lawsuit Against Massage Envy For Refusing Service

Alecia Tramel of South Florida claims that she was refused service at a Massage Envy in Aventura, Florida after revealing to an employee that she was HIV positive. Now, she is filing a lawsuit against the owners of the franchise.

Tramel told Local 10 she and a friend arrived for appointments at the salon, and after she was escorted back to a room by an unidentified staff member and asked, “Do you have any medical conditions?”Tramel responded, “I’m HIV positive.” The staff member then instructed her to get undressed to her underwear, get on the table and cover up before leaving the room. Tramel said the woman returned 10 minutes later and told her, “We will not be able to provide you with service because you need a doctor’s consent.”

“I was like ‘Wow’, I know I was discriminated against. I don’t need a doctor’s note for a massage. That was their way of not servicing me,” Tramel said.  “I went to the car, sat in the car, and I said, ‘This is what it feels like.’ I think I was numb. I felt pain, isolation, and fear from a place I went to get a service,” she continued.

Tramel was diagnosed with the virus in 2000, and since her diagnosis, she has dedicated her life to helping others overcome the stigma that comes with having HIV. “(The) first time in 19 years I feel devastated, but instead of it making me want to crawl under a rock,  it fueled me,” Tramel said.

Attorney Courtney Cunningham is now representing Tramel in a lawsuit filed against the owners of the franchise. “You are telling me they basically didn’t want to touch you?” Cunningham told the publication. “Are you serious? Today? In this day and age? People are still discriminating like this? It was shocking and outrageous.”

According to Local 10, the State of Florida became one of the first states to pass protections for people with HIV in 1988.

Additionally, The Florida Department of Health’s Florida Board of Massage Therapy requires three hours of HIV/AIDS education to be included in the curriculum of any massage training in Florida. People completing a Florida massage apprenticeship must also cover three hours of HIV education during their apprenticeship.

According to court papers filed in response to the suit, J&G Holdings, owners of Massage Envy Aventura, deny the allegations.