ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (KEYT) – A lawsuit was filed on Tuesday against Planet Fitness and two of its franchisees.
It stems from an incident on Dec. 29 last year when an 18-year-old college student was secretly filmed without clothing and without her knowledge or consent while using a standing tanning booth.
“It did happen at the Arroyo Grande Planet Fitness location,” says Randy Renick, Hadsell Stormer Renick & Dai LLP.
Arroyo Grande police say the perpetrator used a cell phone, by pushing it through a crack in the booth’s doorway.
“The police describes somebody lurking around the tanning booths for an extended period of time while Planet Fitness employees just walk by and don’t take any steps to protect the members,” says Renick.
A police investigation has revealed the incident is not isolated.
“What we know about the Arroyo Grande location, from the police investigation, is that there was at least 47 victims, over just a 52 week period,” says Renick.
According to the lawsuit, Planet Fitness employees were in the immediate vicinity during multiple incidents, reportedly witnessing the perpetrator’s erratic and suspicious behavior on numerous occasions. Despite this, the gym’s staff allegedly failed to intervene, warn members, or take any corrective action, even though the gym’s own policy explicitly prohibits photography in the tanning rooms.
“I think it’s, it’s important to comment on, the impact on both our client and, and the other women,” says Renick. “Our client’s 18 years old. She went to the gym to tan. She should not have to carry this trauma for the rest of her life because Planet Fitness chose profits over the safety of its female members.”
Attorney Randy Renick says this lawsuit is representative of incidents occurring at several planet fitness locations in other cities and states, involving many perpetrators and victims.
“It’s not a one gym problem,” Renick says. “For years, Planet Fitness locations across the country, have been the sites of secret filming of female members.”
Arroyo Grande police are investigating and say they’ve identified the suspect but an arrest has not yet been made.
They’ll be keeping the individual’s identity private for now.
The corporate offices of Planet Fitness have issued the following statement.
“At Planet Fitness, the safety and privacy of our members is our top priority, and we do not tolerate inappropriate behavior of any kind. We can confirm the franchise group has cancelled the member in question and is working closely with the local police in their investigation. As this is an ongoing investigation, we refer any additional inquiries to the local authorities.”
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