A Bay Area resident and five other California women have joined a national wave of litigants suing Massage Envy on allegations that the spa giant routinely turned a blind eye to male employees who sexually assaulted their clients, enabling the men to victimize again.

The latest lawsuit, filed in San Mateo County this week, involves massage clients who patronized the spa chain’s locations spanning from Orange County to Burlingame, the latter involving a former massage therapist who last month was charged with more than a dozen counts of sexual battery for his alleged conduct on the job.

“This is happening everywhere,” said Bobby Thompson, whose Burlingame-based firm filed the suit alongside Philadelphia-based Laffey, Bucci & Kent. “This company is more concerned about its brand than it is about customer safety.”

The issue gained widespread public attention after a BuzzFeed investigative report last year revealed that over 180 people had sued Massage Envy alleging, to varying degrees, that they had been wantonly sexually violated by male massage therapists and that their complaints were either downplayed or ignored, and no warnings were extended to future potential victims.

Massage Envy’s corporate office in Scottsdale, Ariz., issued a statement in response to the lawsuit filed this week, and referred reporters to view a webpage outlining company efforts to train employees in “cutting-edge information on the psychology of sexual misconduct and trauma-informed investigations.”

“While we aren’t able to comment on active litigation, we can tell you that we remain focused on our Commitment to Safety plan, which is further strengthening our existing policies,” the statement reads. “Safety is and will always be our priority and we will never stop working on it.”

The Bay Area victim, a San Francisco resident identified as “Jane Doe #1” in the lawsuit, visited the Burlingame Massage Envy location in November and described an encounter where during a session, 28-year-old Brandon James Davis sexually assaulted her. Doe is one of the victims behind the sexual battery charges against him.

“Our client was raped by him,” Thompson said. “We know that Brandon Davis had been accused of improper acts prior to (her) being assaulted. These things will continue to happen until the company is honest with the public about this problem and giving consumers fair warning before they come in, undress, and get naked in a room with a complete stranger.”

Davis is being held in San Mateo County jail on $250,000 bail on six felony counts of sexual battery by fraud and seven misdemeanor counts of battery — involving 13 reported victims — but has not been charged with rape. Thompson said his use of that term is a function of civil court having a lower burden than criminal court for proving offenses, and commended the District Attorney’s Office for its “diligent work and prosecution” of Davis.

District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said the crimes alleged against Davis are unconscionable.

“When people are placing their bodies in the hands of a doctor, a dentist, or a masseuse, they’re putting trust in them,” he said. “To violate that trust with over a dozen women, if proven, he can only be described as a true sexual predator in our book.”

The other plaintiffs in the lawsuit are women who claim they were sexually assaulted, describing massages that quickly devolved into forced sexual contact, at Massage Envy locations in Elk Grove, Beverly Hills, Redondo Beach, Studio City and West Covina. At least two massage therapists in those instances were either fired and had their license revoked, according to the suit.

Thompson said an allegation in Sacramento is in the process of getting consolidated with the case filed this week, and that he knows of pending lawsuits throughout the country. He added that he is confident there are far more victims than those who have taken legal action to date.

“Knowing most victims don’t come forward and report, we want to give them a voice,” he said. “We hope the brave women (who filed suit) will give other women the courage to come forward.”

Read the lawsuit against Massage Envy here. (Warning: Graphic language)