LA Fitness ADA Case Dismissed (for now)

The civil enforcement action, filed in Los Angeles federal court in October, is a joint effort of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. The two enforcement agencies accuse Irvine, California-based LA Fitness, the largest chain of owner-operated gyms in the U.S., of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act with a consistent pattern of discrimination.

The government's complaint alleges that multiple LA Fitness locations have inaccessible showers and broken elevators, and that the gym chain makes patrons with disabilities pay an illegal surcharge to get help from their caretakers.

Fitness International is also accused of failing to fix broken pool lifts, a recurring issue that at one point left a patron with multiple sclerosis "stuck and dangling over the water" and in another instance forced a quadriplegic man with cerebral palsy to crawl out of the pool and into his wheelchair. The government says this was especially problematic because swimming is the only type of exercise available for some people with disabilities.

While the complaint says these accessibility issues extend to LA Fitness locations nationwide, it specifically calls out design flaws at gyms in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. According to the government, many of these Texas gyms have inaccessible lockers, defects in their accessible bathroom stalls and signs without Braille lettering.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction remedying LA Fitness' alleged ADA violations, as well as a civil penalty and monetary damages for the patrons it says were harmed by the fitness chain's misconduct.

In a motion to dismiss filed in December, LA Fitness argued that the four incidents cited in the government's complaint are "disconnected" and "sporadic," and don't reflect a pattern or practice of failure to accommodate, particularly since the alleged accommodation problems faced by the four patrons reflect decisions typically made by an employee or a local club and not on a national level.

Judge Wilson's order comes after he expressed skepticism about the claims at a February hearing, calling it an "unusual" case for the government to bring. The order from U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson dismissed the claims in the suit without prejudice, allowing the government to try again on its allegations that Fitness International LLC, which does business as LA Fitness, mistreated patrons with disabilities at its nearly 700 locations across the country, including by failing to fix broken pool lift equipment and charging caretakers additional fees. 

Judge Wilson wrote that while the attorney general's determination of general public importance is not reviewable, the complaint must provide proper notice to the defendant "of that claim and the grounds upon which it rests." However, "the complete lack of any specific information as to the alleged individual violations fails to give defendant proper notice of even the scope of the claims against it."

LA Fitness is represented by Bryan A. Merryman and Melissa Taylormoore of White & Case LLP.