In Conroe Massage Envy franchise, three more women join the list of accusers against therapist Jose "Joe" Barajas Franco. The three women, referred to only as Jane Does in the lawsuit, claim Franco committed indiscretions during sessions, mirroring earlier assaults, with ex-employees revealing a systemic cover-up orchestrated by the massage chain, according to KPRC 2 and FOX 26.
Cricket Degner, a former therapist at the Conroe location, described the management's negligence as a failure to protect, lamenting that complaints against Franco were a weekly occurrence and often discarded by management, contributing to the franchise's ominous cloud of accusations, the alleged cover-up implicates both local and corporate levels, with claims indicating that Massage Envy's Conroe franchise, led by Mack Miller of FBE Ventures, Inc., and the Massage Envy headquarters, continued to employ Franco despite an onslaught of complaints and merely administered retraining rather than termination, according to their policies on sexual offenses as stated in the lawsuits obtained by both outlets.
As reported by KPRC 2, another former employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, said, documenting complaints against Franco, "We would go back to go look what happened with the situation that happened last week and my notes would be deleted," corroborating stories of systemic mishandling and potential obfuscation of misconduct.
Lawyer Anna Greenberg of Blizzard Greenberg PLLC, who represents the latest Jane Does, said, “Already, we know of at least five women who were assaulted; the question is whether there are more cases since sexual assaults often go unreported,” she imparted in a statement, according to an interview with FOX 26.
The accused massage therapist's license remains current, and the stakes for the Conroe Massage Envy franchise and its corporate overseer rise as public scrutiny intensifies, neither Miller nor FBE Ventures, Inc., nor Massage Envy's corporate office have offered a comment on the matter.
