AUSTIN (KXAN) — A woman who reported a massage therapist sexually assaulted her in October 2022 has filed a lawsuit against the spa where the man worked.

The spa mentioned in the lawsuit was Milk + Honey Spa, which is based out of Austin.

According to the lawsuit, the woman, who went by a pseudonym due to the sensitive nature of the case, said she was seeking more than $1 million.

The lawsuit said the woman visited the spa’s Bee Cave location Oct. 24, 2022, and during the massage, the spa’s then-employee, 34-year-old Kevin Wilson, sexually assaulted her by touching her inappropriately with his fingers and hand. The lawsuit also said the assault caused her physical injury, pain and mental anguish.

“[The woman’s] massage should have been a relaxing and rewarding treat. Instead, it turned into a nightmare that will affect [her] for the rest of her life,” the lawsuit said.

According to the lawsuit documents, after the assault, the woman reported the incident to the Bee Cave Police Department, and Wilson did not deny the assault during his interview with the police.

The woman claimed the spa had a duty to provide a safe environment for her massage treatment, and said the sexual assault was preventable.

The lawsuit said Milk + Honey Spa was negligent in its hiring, supervision, training and retention of Wilson. It also claimed the spa failed to take reasonable steps to ensure Wilson could not harm customers, as well as failed to have adequate policies and procedures to prevent the assault that happened to the woman.

According to past KXAN coverage, the spa’s owner said the massage therapist passed an extensive background check.

Wilson has two court hearings scheduled for April 26 related to the incident at the spa. According to Travis County records, one is for an indecent assault charge and the other for a sexual assault charge.

KXAN reached out to Milk + Honey regarding the lawsuit. Read their full statement below.

Since 2006, milk honey has been operating with the utmost integrity, positivity and gratitude- principles upon which this business has been built. I was both saddened and shocked to learn of the allegations against Kevin Wilson, who joined milk honey on August 25, 2022.  As a survivor myself, I offer my deepest condolences to the victim and her family.

However, we adamantly deny all of the allegations in the lawsuit that claim there was something we could or should have done to prevent this from happening.

Kevin Wilson came to milk honey as a candidate with more than 13 years experience as a practicing massage therapist, having worked at very reputable spas. Kevin also had an active massage therapy license and was viewed in good standing by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). As a part of our candidate screening and selection process, we also run premium background checks on all of our employees, and Kevin’s background screen was completely clear and met the requirements for employment.

As a female founded company, milk honey has zero tolerance for sexual misconduct or behavior from any employee or client. We were disappointed to learn of the suit recently filed against milk honey.  As soon as we were made aware of these accusations, Kevin was immediately removed from our schedule and was subsequently terminated. We attempted to make contact with the victim and asked for her permission to submit a formal complaint to TDLR on her behalf so that his massage license would be revoked. In addition, we have offered our partnership and support with law enforcement and have provided them with necessary documentation in support of their investigation. We will continue to operate with integrity and do everything we can to support the process moving forward and ensure the responsible parties are brought to justice.