Insider alleges workers not properly trained at laser spa

BEAVERTON, Ore. –   A local woman says she quit her job as a technician at Forever Young laser spa because she says she didn't get enough training to keep customers safe.

This new insider allegation comes after a KATU Problem Solver story on Forever Young that revealed dozens of customer complaints and a state investigation into the spa.

KATU has heard from a number of people who say they're former employees of Forever Young, and they're concerned.

They talk about several different problems with the spa, but one of the biggest concerns is about training. Are laser technicians getting enough training to keep you from getting hurt?

The woman KATU News spoke to Thursday says she wants to keep her identity hidden because she's worried about repercussions from speaking out.

"Sarah" thought working at Forever Young would get her training and experience as a laser technician doing treatments like hair removal. She says she was wrong.

"There's a handful of them that know what they're doing; they know their stuff; they've been there for a while," Sarah says. "There's also a lot of technicians that come in to it and they're thrown out there, and they don't know what they're doing and that puts the client at a huge risk."

She says she was one of those lost technicians pretending to clients that she knew how to operate the equipment. But she says she was never trained properly and no one ever sat down to show her how to use the lasers.

"That's a huge problem. It's a huge, huge problem for the safety of the clients, for the safety of myself, for the safety of the actual medical spa," she says.

She says reporting these and other problems seemed risky, too.

"And then if I tried to contact the owner, I was afraid that I would lose my job for saying anything," she says.

One woman, former employee Melissa Dupuis says she did report problems and lost her job.

She has filed a lawsuit against Forever Young. In it she claims she filed a complaint with the state that Forever Young forced an employee with pink eye to come to work and was fired the very same day.

Sarah says she quit not long after she was hired.

"My license was at risk, and that's why I felt like I had to leave because my license was at risk," she says. "I didn't want something to happen or hurt someone because I didn't know what I was doing."

KATU News is waiting to hear a response from Forever Young to these concerns and to the lawsuit. KATU News contacted the company's attorney Thursday morning for that response.

Forever Young says online that they are the top spa in the area and "our people are carefully qualified, competent and completely committed to venture." And they have said that they have 50,000 satisfied clients.

If you have a problem, contact the Problem Solvers. You can email them at problemsolvers@katu.com. You can also call them. The number is 503-736-3415.