massage therapy journal

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WHAT TO DO IF YOU SUSPECT YOU'VE BEEN DISCRIMINATED AGAINST

Personal preference plays a large role when individuals select a massage therapist. But what if it goes beyond just an individuals choice? What if you suspect an employer didnt hire you because of your sex?

The first thing to do is to make sure you have a casespeculation is not enough, says Robert Armstrong, general counsel for AMTA. You can always start by filing a complaint with the employer, giving him or her the chance to respond. But its often tough to challenge employers hiring decisions, especially when they can simply say they hired the other therapist because she had a better resume and interviewed better, Armstrong says.

If you are unable to resolve the situation with the employer, but you still feel you have been discriminated against because of your gender, you may want to file a charge of discrimination with the appropriate agency. If the company has 15 or more employees, you may file a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). If the company has fewer than 15 employees, you may still be able to file a charge with the appropriate state or local agency. Youll need to check your state or municipalitys website to find the agency who handles such complaints in your local area.

Dont start by going directly to the courts. In most cases, the law requires that you first file a charge with the EEOC or other appropriate agency and exhaust that process before filing a lawsuit. If you dont, the case will just get thrown out of court. Even if you file a lawsuit, very few cases make it to trial. Many are dismissed on motions made by the employer on various legal grounds or for lack of sufficient evidence of gender bias. Cases that survive these motions often settle before trial.

The best chance a male therapist may have against an employer would be if the therapist could establish a pattern and practice of gender discrimination, says Armstrong. In these cases, it must be proven, based on statistical analysis, that a company has a historic pattern of hiring an inordinate amount of one gender when compared to the gender breakdown of the available labor pool.

For more information on the employment laws that protect again gender discrimination, visit the EEOCs website at www.eeoc.gov/types/sex.html.

ADVICE FROM AN EXPERT

How can male massage therapists achieve success despite gender discrimination? Bob King, founder of the Chicago School of Massage Therapy, who has practiced more than 30 years, offers his best strategies.

1. IDENTIFY WITH CLIENTS I like women...[and] feminine energy, and have worked on those aspects of my character that have helped me become a better listener and better understand the aspect of power in relationships, therapeutic and otherwise.

2. RECOGNIZE BOUNDARIES Women...can intuitively detect when motives are not of a healing nature, and men who do not understand this issue of power are really in the wrong profession.

3. TRY DIFFERENT APPROACHES Men might consider starting a practice with women athletes, dancers, runners and high performance athletes who require and appreciate state-of-the-art body care, regardless of the providers gender.

4. FIND SUPPORT Working in spa settings, it might be helpful to provide some comp work to the receptionists who can actively support your appointment book just by their experience of having worked with you.

5. PROVIDE SUPPORT I have always had more women than men in my practice primarily because women will actively promote [you] if they trust you and respect your skills. But if [male therapists] think they need to fix vulnerable women, they will not be successful in this field.

6. TEACH YOURSELF Teaching, even among family and friends, is helpful in articulating your values and your authority in a gentle and caring way.

7. SERVING OTHERS Service workespecially among hospice, invalid or those seriously injuredallows men to better develop that sense of service that our profession is grounded in.

COACHING THE RECEPTIONISTS

If you work for someone else, several of the therapists we interviewed suggested paying attention to how the receptionists scheduling the appointments speak about you on the phone. A little coaching might be in order. Greg Hurd gives the following example:

If the receptionist says "We do have a male therapist with an appointment available, if thats OK; or The only time we have left is with a male therapist, do you mind?

What you can do: When clients say they would prefer a female therapist, when appropriate, ask the receptionist to say something along the lines of, Clients are very pleased with [male therapist] and almost everyone he sees reschedules with him. Or something more fun such as, Oh, you dont know [therapists name]. Hes excellent and is very popular here.

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