SEATTLE — A Seattle plastic surgery provider illegally prevented thousands of patients from posting negative online reviews by forcing them to sign nondisclosure agreements before receiving treatment, a federal judge ruled Friday.
Penalty against Allure Esthetic and its owner, Dr. Javad Sajan, will be decided at trial scheduled for September.
Judge Ricardo S. Martinez’s ruling comes more than a year after Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued Allure Esthetic, claiming the provider violated a federal law protecting consumers’ rights to post truthful reviews about a business.
Ferguson’s lawsuit accused Allure of altering “before and after” photos, bribing patients with money and free services to remove negative online reviews and forcing employees to post fake positive reviews, according to a news release from Ferguson’s office sent Monday. The lawsuit alleged Allure went to extreme measures, even suing anonymous reviewers for defamation, to control what was said publicly about the provider on sites such as Google and Yelp.
“Online reviews are often the first stop when consumers are determining who to trust,” Ferguson said in the news release Monday.
The lawsuit alleged that from 2017 to 2019, Allure required patients to agree to contact the company directly rather than posting a “negative” review, which it considered to be less than four stars. Even until March 2022, Allure required patients to contact the clinic directly to “reach a resolution” before leaving a negative review, Ferguson’s office said.
Patients learned they had to sign such agreement only after they paid Allure $100 in nonrefundable consultation fee, Ferguson’s office said.
The lawsuit also alleged that the company required some patients to waive their privacy rights so it could respond to negative reviews with their personal health information. That violated the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA, Ferguson’s office said.
Ferguson’s office also alleged Allure forced patients who agreed to take down negative reviews to sign a second nondisclosure agreement, with a $250,000 fine if they did not comply.
In addition, the lawsuit accused Allure of buying fake followers and “likes,” creating fake profiles to write positive reviews of the company, and of using fake emails to take skin care rebates intended for patients.
Ferguson in 2022 said his office had been investigating Allure for about a year before filing the lawsuit. The Attorney General’s Office interviewed about 40 former employees and about 10 patients, Ferguson said.
Allure Esthetic has offices in Seattle, Lynnwood and Kirkland, according to Ferguson’s office.
Allure Esthetic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Seattle Times staff reporters Claire Withycombe and Catalina Gaitán contributed to this report.
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