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LA Fitness Sued for Lack of Accessible Accommodations

By Vaidehi Mehta, Esq. | Last updated on

If you haven’t been to an LA Fitness, you’ve probably seen them around. It’s the largest chain of owner-operated gym and fitness club facilities in the United States, with over 700 locations. The company provides a variety of fitness services and amenities, including swimming pools, weight machines, jacuzzis, and saunas.

But according to Uncle Sam, the facilities LA Fitness operates are not accessible to individuals with disabilities. In the United States, there are federal and state laws in place that ensure that places — even private companies like LA Fitness — comply with certain minimum requirements for accommodating disabilities. The key statute that governs this area is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

An ADA Digest

The ADA has been around for half a century. It’s a comprehensive civil rights law that aims to ensure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. Title III of the ADA specifically addresses public accommodations and commercial facilities.

The text of the statute prohibits discrimination “on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation.” This includes LA Fitness facilities.

The ADA says that places covered in the statute must remove architectural barriers in existing facilities where such removal is “readily achievable” (meaning, easily accomplished and able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense). Facilities built or altered after January 26, 1993 must be readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.

Any accessibility features have to be regularly maintained to be in proper working order so that they’re actually usable by individuals with disabilities. And importantly, the facility cannot impose additional fees or surcharges on individuals with disabilities to cover the costs of implementing the required measures.

LA Fitness Found Unfit

In the case of LA Fitness, the federal government found that it was in violation of various requirements of the ADA, thereby discriminating against individuals with disabilities. The government claims that the gym company fails to keep facilities accessible, specifically by failing to provide operable pool lifts, accessible showers, and elevators.

One LA Fitness member reported that she encountered inoperable pool lifts, causing her to be stuck and requiring assistance from LA Fitness employees. Another member who experienced a similarly broken pool lift was forced to crawl out of the pool. A third member reported that he could not access his LA Fitness facility due to a broken elevator, preventing him from using the pool for exercise.

The government also pointed out that the company has not removed architectural barriers in existing facilities where such removal could be done without much difficulty. Multiple LA Fitness facilities allegedly failed to meet ADA standards, including issues with reach ranges, protrusions, shower accessibility, locker room barriers, and more. The same member who got stuck in the pool life also reported that she had a hard time using even the accessible showers because of improperly placed shower benches and controls out of reach. For accessible features that LA Fitness has implemented, it has failed to maintain them in operable condition.

The government also claims that LA Fitness, by failing to meet requirements of the ADA, had de facto “imposed additional fees or surcharges” on individuals with disabilities to allow them to access their facilities. The member who was forced to crawl out of the pool apparently had to purchase a pool lift battery and charging case at his own expense due to LA Fitness’s failure to provide a working lift battery.

Uncle Sam Files Suit

In federal court, the United States has asked for various forms of relief to put LA Fitness into compliance. They’ve asked the court to declare the gym company in violation of the ADA and to issue an order requiring it to modify its policies, practices, and procedures to comply with the statute. The government is also asking the court to make LA Fitness take affirmative steps to restore, as nearly as practicable, all aggrieved individuals to the position they would have been in but for the defendant's conduct (this probably means paying them some money).

Speaking of money, there would be other monetary damages and civil penalties involved. But this isn’t something that can just be settled with money, whether or not the case goes to the jury trial that the government is asking for. The nature of the ADA is that you can’t just pay for being in violation — you need to change your practices to comply with the statute. So, sooner or later, LA Fitness gyms everywhere are going to need to make some major changes.

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