SEATTLE — Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has sued a Seattle-area plastic surgery provider, alleging that it posted fake positive online reviews of their services and bribed and threatened patients to prevent negative ones.
Ferguson filed the lawsuit in federal court Thursday against Allure Esthetic and its owner Dr. Javad Sajan.
“Allure stopped at nothing to keep negative reviews off the internet,” Ferguson said.
Allure Esthetic has offices in Seattle, Lynnwood and Kirkland, offering surgical and non-surgical treatments, including botox and gender-affirming care.
Through the attorney general’s investigation, which took over a year, investigators interviewed about 40 former employees and 10 consumers.
The team found that between 2017 and 2019 Allure had over 10,000 consumers sign non-disclosure agreements before having a consultation that required patients to contact the business instead of posting a negative review.
Cynthia Tamlyn went with her loved one “John” to his Allure appointment in August 2020. She said she had doubts about the non-disclosure agreement, as well as the clinic being unable to provide its HIPAA policy. John signed the agreement but quickly changed his mind after leaving. Tamlyn said the clinic wouldn’t give a refund for the consultation fee.
“Threatening patients into silence is an unconscionable violation of medical ethics and it prevents consumers like John and others who are looking for life-saving healthcare the information they need to make decisions based on honest and unedited reviews,” Tamlyn said.
If a patient did post negative information about Allure, Ferguson said the clinic bribed and threatened clients to take down the reviews, saying it would offer the patients cash and services to make it right. If patients didn’t accept, Ferguson said Allure threatened to sue the patients.
Patients who accepted the bribe were asked to sign a second non-disclosure agreement that said they could face a $250,000 fine if they posted more negative reviews.
The company is also accused of posting fake five-star reviews with edited “before and after” photos of procedures. The company created fake email accounts and posted the reviews through a VPN to hide the IP address of the poster, Ferguson said.
Victoria Hester said they saw Sajan in 2021 for gender-affirming care after reading positive reviews online. However, their experience with the doctor was different from the rave reviews. Hester claims Sajan scrutinized their body in a “humiliating and demeaning way” before saying he wouldn’t do the procedure. A physician’s assistant then told Hester to go on a nutrition plan.
“I broke out in tears and quickly ran out of the office, because I was so embarrassed and so traumatized and so humiliated,” Hester said. “What about these five-star reviews that I saw posted? What about all the rave reviews that Dr. Sajan really cared about transgender people?”
Hester posted a negative review about Allure and said they were contacted by the company threatening legal action.
Allure also allegedly claimed skincare rebates that should have gone to consumers. Ferguson said the company used real patient names and birthdates to register for rebates on a skincare brand they use on patients. Allure is accused of then pocketing the money that should have gone to the consumers.
The lawsuit asks the court to order that all of Allure’s signed non-disclosure agreements are invalid. It also seeks penalties of $7,500 per violation and that Allure pay patients restitution for its $100 pre-consultation fee and cash rebates that belonged to patients.
Sajan is certified through the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. However, he is not a board-certified plastic surgeon through the American Board of Plastic Surgery.