A new ordinance in Escondido prohibits massage therapists from wearing lingerie as attire, touching customers’ private parts and locking doors in massage rooms.
Escondido City Council voted unanimously to approve the ordinance in the hopes of ridding the city of its bad reputation, the North County Times reports.
"It's an embarrassment to our city and our family values," Mayor Sam Abed told the NCT. "Either they play by the rules, or they go somewhere else."
Among the criteria in the ordinance, massage therapists are also prohibited from touching or exposing customers’ nipples, or exposing their own. Customers can no longer pay tips to individual employees and must pay office personnel for services.
Also, massage therapists are prohibited from removing their clothes or wearing underwear, lingerie or bathing suits as attire.
Violators could face a $1,000 fine or six months in jail.
Massage therapists who supported the ordinance attended the city council meeting and said stricter rules will help restore confidence in the integrity of the region’s massage businesses.
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For additional coverage on the new ordinance, visit the North County Times’ website.
