EXCLUSIVE — Senate Republicans’ campaign arm is hitting Cheri Beasley, North Carolina’s Democratic Senate nominee, for her former law firm’s work on behalf of the Massage Envy chain as it faced allegations that some of its therapists sexually assaulted their clients.
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Beasley, a former North Carolina Supreme Court chief justice, is running against Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) for an open Senate seat soon to be left vacant by retiring Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC).
A digital ad by the National Republican Senatorial Committee accuses Beasley of defending the chain in her work for the law firm McGuireWoods.
Beasley is listed as counsel for Massage Envy in an appeal on one of the cases dated March 5, 2021, as part of the firm. She withdrew as counsel on Aug. 31 of the same year, court documents show. The work is disclosed on her financial disclosure report, listing Massage Envy Franchising as a McGuireWoods client, saying the work was to assist on an appeal of a procedural ruling.
More than 100 women have accused therapists at Massage Envy locations across the country of sexual assault. Many of those cases ended up in litigation.
The Beasley campaign did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner on the ad, the nature of her work in the case, or her financial disclosure.
NRSC spokesman T.W. Arrighi said in a statement, “The more you dig into Cheri Beasley’s past as a judge and a lawyer, the more and more concerning it becomes.”
“Massage Envy stood accused of awful instances of sexual assault and Cheri Beasley still took them on as a client,” Arrighi said. “North Carolinians have no patience for politicians who say one thing but do another, especially when it comes to protecting victims.”
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The North Carolina Senate race is one of the most competitive in the country. A FiveThirtyEight average of polls currently shows a neck-and-neck contest, while the nonpartisan Cook Political Report has rated it as “lean Republican.”
