Massage therapist goes to court to fight restrictions on practice

A Kelowna massage therapist who was accused of massaging the breasts of a female patient is going to court in a bid to overturn a restriction imposed on his practice.

The patient filed her complaint against Robert Morgan in May, and in June an inquiry committee of the College of Massage Therapists of B.C. found that there was a risk to the public and ordered that a chaperon be present whenever he treats a female patient.

In a petition filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Morgan, 40, says that at no time during the massage session did he perform a breast massage on his patient.

“At all times, the treatment the petitioner provided to (the patient) was designed to address pain she was experiencing in her lower back.”

In the petition, Morgan says that the committee did not identify, beyond its possession of one unproven complaint, how he represented a risk to the public.

“The petitioner disputes the facts of the complaint, has co-operated with the college, has no criminal record and no record of prior disciplinary complaints,” says the petition. “The restrictions placed on the petitioner are unreasonable given that there was nothing from which the inquiry committee could extrapolate a risk to the public.”

Morgan’s petition says that roughly 95 per cent of his patient base is female and the imposition of a chaperon will “significantly” affect his ability to continue to earn a living.

“He expects the vast majority of his patients to seek treatment from other (registered massage therapists) rather than permit him to provide treatment with a chaperon in the room.”

Morgan, who earned about $3,000 a month before the complaint was filed, says he expects his income to be reduced by as much as 90 per cent as a result of the restriction.