Class Action Claims Elements Massage Pinecrest Charged Membership Fees While Closed Due to COVID-19

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A Florida woman claims in a proposed class action that Elements Massage Pinecrest continued to charge membership fees while closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Filed against the massage parlor’s two operators—Ivanworks Wellness, LLC and Elements Therapeutic Massage, LLC—the lawsuit out of Florida relays the companies offer a subscription-based membership plan whereby customers can pay a monthly $100 fee for one massage per month.

According to the case, however, Elements Massage Pinecrest stopped providing massage services in March 2020 after executive orders issued by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez respectively declared a state of emergency and closed all non-essential businesses.

Because the plaintiff could no longer receive the services she bargained for, the woman attempted to cancel her Elements membership yet was told that “the only way she could do so” was to physically visit the massage parlor and cancel in person, the suit says.

“This was obviously not possible because the massage parlor had been ordered closed,” the complaint contests, describing the defendants’ in-person cancellation policy as “draconian.”

Since the plaintiff could not cancel her membership, she was charged fees for three months while being denied the services for which she paid, the case argues. 

Per the complaint, the defendants have “done the same for countless other members” who have unsuccessfully attempted to cancel their memberships.

Initially filed in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, the lawsuit has been removed to federal court in Florida’s Southern District.

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