Sex and the massage therapist

[Douglas Laycock]

  Many universities ban or strongly discourage romantic relationships
between faculty members and students under their supervision.

  Quoting jure.toplak at uni-mb.si:

> Is anyone aware of any other laws that ban consensual sexual
> relationship between any two adult people? For instance, between
> university professor and an adult student? Doctor and a client?
Preacher
> and a church-goer?
>
> J
>
>
>
>> In re Fjellman, 2006 WL 3147575 (Minn. Off. Admin. Hrgs. Sept.
11),
>> authorizes disciplinary action against a massage therapist for
having a
>> sexual relationship with an ex-client several months after she
stopped
>> treating him. (They married a year later.)
>>
>> Minnesota law bars a wide range of "health care practitioner[s]" -
>> including massage therapists (I mean the legit ones, not
prostitutes
>> claiming to be masseuses) - from "Engaging in sexual contact with
a
>> complementary and alternative health care client or former
client," with
>> "former client" covering any client who has gotten services from
the
>> practitioner "within the past two years." Fjellman raised a
>> constitutional objection, but the administrative agency concluded
that
>> it "lacks authority to declare a statute unconstitutional on its
face,"
>> and that Fjellman had to raise the question in court. I don't know
>> whether Fjellman plans to litigate this further.
>>
>> The law also covers people who practice "(1) acupressure; (2)
>> anthroposophy; (3) aroma therapy; (4) ayurveda; (5) cranial sacral
>> therapy; (6) culturally traditional healing practices; (7)
>> detoxification practices and therapies; (8) energetic healing; (9)
>> polarity therapy; (10) folk practices; (11) healing practices
utilizing
>> food, food supplements, nutrients, and the physical forces of
heat,
>> cold, water, touch, and light; (12) Gerson therapy and colostrum
>> therapy; (13) healing touch; (14) herbology or herbalism; (15)
>> homeopathy; (16) nondiagnostic iridology; (17) body work, massage,
and
>> massage therapy; (18) meditation; (19) mind-body healing
practices; (20)
>> naturopathy; (21) noninvasive instrumentalities; and (22)
traditional
>> Oriental practices, such as Qi Gong energy healing." Minn. Stat.
>> 146A.001.
>>
>> Any thoughts on whether this violates the Lawrence v. Texas right,
or,
>> when applied to couples who marry within the two years, the right
to
>> marry?  (I understand why the government might want to bar sexual
>> conduct between psychotherapists and patients or even former
patients,
>> especially recently former patients.  But massage therapists seem
pretty
>> far removed from psychotherapists.  They don't try to give advice
about
>> a person's life, they aren't generally privy to the patient's
innermost
>> secrets. They aren't trusted by the patient for guidance, other
than
>> perhaps guidance about specific maladies of the sort that massage
can
>> fix.  It's hard to see how a sexual relationship between a massage
>> therapist and a former patient is especially likely to be
improper.
>> Sure, there's some risk of psychological manipulation and other
unsavory
>> behavior - but no more, I think, than in any relationship between
two
>> adults.)
>>
>> Eugene
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> _______________________________________________
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> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see 
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> Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed
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> private.  Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that
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> posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can 
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>
>

Douglas Laycock
Yale Kamisar Collegiate Professor of Law
University of Michigan Law School
625 S. State St.
Ann Arbor, MI  48109-1215
  734-647-9713

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