A number of sexual harassment lawsuits and charges against health club personnel were filed this year. In January, two female fitness instructors filed suit against David Barton Gym, New York, which filed for bankruptcy later in the year. The instructors, both homosexual, claim they were fired after they complained about rude comments made at the club about their sexual orientation.
Life Time Fitness was sued in May by a female personal trainer in Texas on the grounds of sexual harassment and retaliation. The trainer accused her male supervisor of unwanted and inappropriate behavior and claims that Life Time led a campaign of retaliation against her. Later in the year, a Life Time employee who worked in the child care center of a club in Collierville, TN, was charged with multiple counts of aggravated sexual battery against three girls under the age of 10.
In August, Allstar Fitness, Seattle, agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A female janitorial worker who worked at two Allstar Fitness clubs in Seattle claimed she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by her immediate supervisor.
24 Hour Fitness was sued in October by a male employee claiming he was sexually harassed by the club’s female manager.