FACTS: As reported in the June 2013 edition of DOAH Case Notes, Guiping Diamond graduated from the Florida College of Natural Health (“FCNH”) and became a Florida-licensed massage therapist in 2009. However, FCNH’s former registrar falsely told her that FCNH would accept all of the credits from her previous school and that those transfer credits fulfilled FCNH’s requirements for issuance of a diploma satisfying state licensure requirements. There was no evidence that Ms. Diamond was aware of the falsified documentation, which the FCNH registrar submitted directly to the Board of Massage Therapy (“the Board”).
The Department of Health (“DOH”) issued an administrative complaint seeking revocation of Ms. Diamond’s license based on a variety of charges, including that Ms. Diamond obtained a license through fraudulent misrepresentation, or in the alternative, formal administrative hearing, the ALJ recommended that the Board enter a final order finding her not guilty. While section 456.072(1)(h), Florida Statutes, subjects licensees to discipline for obtaining a license through an error of DOH, the ALJ concluded the licensee must have knowingly used DOH’s error to his or
her advantage, which the ALJ found was not the case here.
OUTCOME: The Board issued a Final Order rejecting all 13 of DOH’s Exceptions to the Recommended Order and dismissed the administrative complaint. DOH appealed the Board’s Final Order to the First District Court of Appeal. That appeal and four others involving similar events at FCNH are currently pending.
Source:
Dep’t of Health v. Diamond, DOAH, Case No. 12-3825PL (Recommended Order April 9, 2013); DOH Case No. 2012-11850 (Final Order Aug. 21, 2013).
About the Author: The forgoing case summary was prepared by and appeared in the DOAH case notes of the Administrative Law Section newsletter, Vol. 35, No. 2 (Dec. 2013), a publication of the Administrative Law Section of The Florida Bar.
