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24 Hour Fitness chain sued; 'Biggest Loser' feature
Photo credit: iStock
How’s this for the “Biggest Loser”? Some 1.5 million former members of 24 Hour Fitness, the gym chain made famous by the television series, are claiming that the workout hot spot continued to deliberately slim their funds after memberships were canceled.
A judge in a Los Angeles federal court certified the nationwide class action against 24 Hour Fitness, considered the nation’s largest workout chain, for violating the Racketeeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, and the Electronic Transfer Act.
"24 Hour Fitness is the modern day Al Capone, using the electronic banking and credit card system as Al Capone and his mob used the Tommy gun. This is exactly what the RICO laws were designed to stop," Robert L. Esensten, the Los Angeles attorney pressing the suit, told PR Newswire-US Newswire. "Apparently 24 Hour Fitness’s annual revenues of over one billion dollars a year are not enough for its owners, despite the fact that today’s consumers are struggling to make every dollar count."
In a statement issued late Thursday, 24 Hour Fitness said it "is fully committed to open and transparent communication regarding cancellation procedures for our members. The terms for cancellation are clearly communicated to our members when they join, and are followed consistently by 24 Hour Fitness. The claims asserted against our company are without merit and we will continue to vigorously defend this case."
The case, Friedman v. 24 Hour Fitness USA, says that because the gym demands that members pay monthly memberships by electronic transfer, 24 Hour Fitness is making $1.6 million a month from former members’ bank and credit card accounts by defrauding such companies as Bank of America and J.P. Morgan Chase, which process payments.
Private equity firm Forstmann, Little & Co., based in Manhattan, owns 24 Hour Fitness.
