"School accused of sex trafficking ties faces wage theft suit”
A Twin Cities acupuncture school and clinic that had a massage program shuttered by the state last year over suspicions of sex trafficking is facing more questions about its practices, Axios has learned.
What's happening: A class action suit filed against the American Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM) alleges that owners engaged in an "illegal, intentional, and systematic scheme" to steal wages from its acupuncturists.
The federal complaint claims the clinic's previous owner didn't pay overtime or provide meal breaks, and illegally withheld 5% of employees' salaries to offset losses from canceled appointments. The lawsuit was filed in April but it has not been previously reported.
Three named plaintiffs, who either currently work at the school or once did, are seeking unspecified damages on behalf of all impacted employees.
Context: Minnesota's Office of Higher Education shuttered the school's Chinese-language massage program and ordered the former owners to relinquish control in 2020, after its office "determined there is a theme of prostitution and/or human trafficking" involving students and internships.
The school has since reopened under new ownership as the American Academy of Health and Wellness. The lawsuit does not list the new owner by name, only as "successors."
Zoom out: AAAOM was featured in a new report from nonprofit Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundationthat details troubling signs of sex trafficking in state-authorized schools across the nation. The researchers behind the case study highlight failures in oversight and enforcement related to the issue.
What they're saying: Attorneys representing the defendants denied all allegations in a legal filing. School officials who served under the previous owners have denied the trafficking claims, saying the program was unfairly targeted.
The new owner disputed overtime claims via email and told us plaintiffs are being paid at an agreed upon rate.
In July, he told the Star Tribune he's working to rebuild community trust so he can continue teaching the practice to new students.
Plus: The foundation's report on suspicions of sex trafficking at AAAOM and other massage schools, highlighted in a USA Today investigation, has caught the eye of federal regulators and lawmakers.
The U.S. Department of Education sent a letter this month to the accrediting agency that renewed AAAOM's certification in 2018, seeking more information about that vetting process and approval of the change in ownership.
The U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee is also calling for more action to address sex trafficking in trade schools.
Read the full piece on AXIOS.
