A Seattle cosmetic surgery provider has been ordered to pay $5m to the state Attorney-General’s office and thousands of Washingtonians after being accused of illegally manipulating online customer reviews and threatening patients, according to a federal consent decree filed last week.
The consent decree resolves the lawsuit filed in December 2022, which accuses Allure Esthetic and owner Dr Javad Sajan of violating state and federal consumer protection laws by posting fake reviews and forcing patients to sign non-disclosure agreements, reports The Seattle Times.
Allure is required to pay about $1.5m in restitution to about 21 000 Washingtonians, who will receive a letter from the Attorney-General with a cheque (either $50 or $120, depending on each person’s situation).
The rest of the $5m will go to attorney fees, costs of litigating the case, and future monitoring and enforcing of the consent decree, according to the resolution.
“Writing a truthful review about a business should not subject you to threats or intimidation,” said state Attorney-General Bob Ferguson. “Consumers rely on reviews when determining who to trust, especially services that affect their health and safety. This resolution holds Allure accountable for brazenly violating that trust – and the law – and ensures the clinic stops its harmful conduct.”
Allure Esthetic could not be reached for comment.
Sajan, the owner of Allure, is based in Seattle, though Allure has offices throughout Washington and in other states, and provides surgical and non-surgical services, including plastic and cosmetic procedures.
However, the American Board of Plastic Surgery, based in Philadelphia, said Sajan is not certified by the board as a plastic surgeon. He does, however, have an active physician and surgeon licence in Washington state, and is certified through the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery.
Allure also does business under the names of Gallery of Cosmetic Surgery, Seattle Plastic Surgery, Alderwood Surgical Centre, Northwest Nasal Sinus Centre and Northwest Face and Body, said the lawsuit, which specifically names Alderwood Surgical Centre and Northwest Nasal Sinus Centre as defendants, as they both have Washington business licenses.
The complaint accused Allure of several illegal business practices, including artificially inflating its ratings on websites like Yelp and Google by posting fake, positive reviews and suppressing real, negative reviews.
According to the lawsuit, the company also forced patients to sign illegal NDAs between 2017 and 2019 that banned them from posting or saying anything negative about Allure; rigged “best doctor” competitions hosted by local media outlets; applied for and kept tens of thousands of dollars in rebates intended for patients; and altered before-and-after photos of patient results that Allure would then share on social media.
In addition, the complaint alleges Allure threatened to sue patients, and did sue several, if they didn’t take down negative reviews; offered money and free services to patients in exchange for removing a negative review; and told patients they would face a $250 000 fine if they posted negative reviews in the future.
Sajan “personally authorised” the amount of money or value of services offered to patients who posted negative comments about the company, the lawsuit said. He also allegedly directed employees to create fake email accounts to pose as patients and post positive reviews.
The complaint argued that Allure’s actions violated the state Consumer Protection Act, and the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and Consumer Review Fairness Act.
In addition to ceasing all these practices and paying restitution, this week’s resolution also requires Allure to hire a third-party forensic accounting firm to conduct an independent audit of its consumer rebate programme to identify people who are owed rebates, and, upon request, provide the attorney general’s office with proof of compliance with the terms of the consent decree for the next 10 years.
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