A reply from Planet Fitness about discrimination - interesting read

[fade]

i hear where you're coming from i'm just making a point here. maybe he doesn't want a gym in his house, doesn't have room for it, or just likes the gym environment. telling him to create his own gym at home doesn't change the situation at hand that he was denied membership. i'm curious to see how it pans out in court though.

I would have to go back and re-read his initial story about being kicked out... I don't believe they denied him membership based on looks - they blamed it on something he did, right?

 

[TODouble2]

Hey guys, thanks for all the imput.
I will answer a couple of questions to clarify "why" input am pursuing this lawsuit.
First you must understand that this is a PUBLIC facility so they must adhere to what is left of our constitutional rights. Yes, you can chose not to go there but the point is, they welcome everyone but you (the bodybuilder). My biggest problem is with the stereotyping that bodybuilders are dumb. Would it be OK for Planet Fitness to say mentally handicapped people are dumb there for they are not welcome? They directly insinuate that "we" are drug induced meat heads.
The gym in my town used to be a Golds gym. In 2002 Golds closed the doors and Planet Fitness bought out all the memberships. So, needless to say, people who had already paid gym dues for 24 months at Golds where shit out of luck. They paid for a bodybuilding gym, then it turned into a feminine fitness social club. Within 7 days the owner (of that specific club) kicked out 27 members. All those kicked out where bodybuilders. They did not give anyone a refund so the Golds money was in their pocket and those who where banned couldnt do shit about it.
My son competes at state (amateur) bodybuilding show and he is a big boy for his age. He received a full scholarship to Clemson. So needless to say, he is far from uneducated and dumb. He was one of the people banned within the first week. The excuse he was given for being banned was - He wore a skull cap during his workout. They said that skull caps (toboggans) influenced gang activity. LOL. We live in BFE and there is no way in hell we could have any type of gang related activity.
They refused to refund my sons membership he had paid in advance to Golds prior to the conversion to a social club.
That being said, i am not suing for money. I have money (nobody ever has enough but im happy)
and my family does not discriminate towards any human being. Nobody on this earth is any better then the person standing right beside them. Our world has turned to a materialistic shit hole. People have come to the belief that they more money you have, the nicer material items you have, the more popular you are. I did not raise my son to discriminate towards anything in life. For him to be banned for the simple reason he has large muscles is an insult to me, my son and we as bodybuilders.
My goal is to make the public aware of the fact this franchise is discriminating against people just because of their looks. Someone posted the fact that no way that would be allowed if it refused memberships to fat people. To make commercials that discriminate and make accusations that big muscles equals uneducated ignorance is and insult to everyone on this forum.
Some one posted that i might be doing this for attention. This has nothing to do with attention. I do not intend to come off as a savior to bodybuilding/bodybuilders - i am simply trying to expose the wrongs that have been done.
Do i have an attorney? Yes. Two of them that have been working on this for 8 weeks or so. One is a best friend of 26 years. They are the reason for the letters i send to Planet Fitness. That is done for the sole purpose of letting them sink their own ship. They chose to put their foot in their own mouth. So, the more fuel i have for court the bigger fire i can build. The lawsuit will not be made public if i have a choice. Sure, i come here and discuss it because it directly relates to you guys.
I will keep posting the replies i receive.
The Planet Fitness i am referring to removed all the dumbbells past 65lbs (used to go to 120lbs). The removed 3 flat benches that had a bar attachment and left the dumbbell flat bench. They cut 9 inches off the bar of the seated calf machine so it will not hold over 3 x 45lb plates. They put 3 smith machines in but also cut the bars off so the max weight is 3 plates. They put up signs stating anyone caught placing over 3 plates on any of the machines will be immediately banned. They put posters up all around the gym of goofy looking bodybuilders with the word "duh" i pick things up, i put things down. They changed the dress code so any men wearing a tank top, flip flops or do-rags and skull caps wlll be immediately banned. They let women wear anything they want.
There is a sign that states that anyone caught leaving a machine without cleaning it will be banned. They have a sign that says no refund for any reason. So, these things long with the fact that they banned my son for no reason is what fuels my intentions of this lawsuit.
Thank you for all the support, and i am in no way seeking attention. I am only trying to save what little it of freedoms we have left in this country by starting on a local level. Our government has used "fear" as the excuse to turn our constitution into worthless paper. The only way to save this country/world is to make it change. This might be a small thing compared to the problems we are enduring because our government has been corrupted into the highest levels.
I cant change the world but i can make 1 - It takes 1 to make 100 - it takes 100 to make 1000 - it takes 1000's to make a million and it takes a million to make a billion. You have to start somewhere and in order for this world to survive the up coming crisis and assure our children somewhat of a future we must unite and turn billions into ONE.
That is my inspiration for this lawsuit. To change this world we have to start on a local level and work our way up into the internals of government. All i am trying to do is make a voice that in some little way will help "us" as human beings.

hey fade,

this is not the initial post. its on page 2 but tells what happened.

 

[nhbb]

I am sure the folks at PF had a good laugh passing these emails around the office. Atrocious grammar, run on sentences, and some real spelling gems in there. "ludacris"? LOL!

 

[terryd5150]

you don't know his situation. maybe he doesn't have room in his house for a gym.... and since you're so involved with what he does with his money why don't you tell him to buy the gym and change it back the way he likes it. hell he's a doctor right, he should just buy the franchise!! that would solve the whole problem right there!! good thing you chimed in here. problem solved! lock the thread!

OK, I guess my point is this:

The OP seems to be more interested in complaining about a "gym" that WE ALL KNOW has a non-traditional approach to membership.

If he were truly serious about TRAINING, he'd do what he had to to be able to gets his workouts in, including making his own set-up at home.

It doesn't take much, even Wal-Mart sells some decent starter equipment- fitness goals not being met otherwise.

 

[SteaknAle]

Personally, I can't stand PF, simply because of their commercials...but if you want to go after them for discrimination, you have a much better case refering to traditional categories of dsicrimination: every commercial that makes fund of "stupid bodybuilders" uses a minority - an african-american or an immirant from a non-english-speaking background - as the butt of their jokes.

 

[RONJON]

Yes Planet Fitness is ridiculous.

My gf just started working out there because it is so cheap and she just started a new job and cannot afford one of the nicer gyms right now. NOBODY wants to work out there...they only go there when they have no alternative.

It is UNBELIEVABLE how they get away with the commercials and..that story about the guy getting told they don't cater to his kind on the cardio is totally insane!

I can't wait to use a guest pass and go check it out for myself. All self respecting lifters should be offended by this garbage. I do not want my son one day to see these commercials and think that there is something wrong with hard work and dedicated training...nor do I want him to be confused on why people work out hard and then eat PIZZA after their workout.

I could rant on this ALLLLLL day! ..so aggravating

 

[fade]

Yes Planet Fitness is ridiculous.

My gf just started working out there because it is so cheap and she just started a new job and cannot afford one of the nicer gyms right now. NOBODY wants to work out there...they only go there when they have no alternative.

It is UNBELIEVABLE how they get away with the commercials and..that story about the guy getting told they don't cater to his kind on the cardio is totally insane!

I can't wait to use a guest pass and go check it out for myself. All self respecting lifters should be offended by this garbage. I do not want my son one day to see these commercials and think that there is something wrong with hard work and dedicated training...nor do I want him to be confused on why people work out hard and then eat PIZZA after their workout.

I could rant on this ALLLLLL day! ..so aggravating

That would be your job as a PARENT, not their job as a company.

 

[RONJON]

That would be your job as a PARENT, not their job as a company.

If the OP lives in an area where there is NO other gym and wanted their child to be active in the summer and participate in an exercise program it would definitely be a problem.. just saying..and there is absolutely no excuse for how planet fitness conducts their business and I don't think any self respecting lifter would give them any business

...interested to see how it turns out..keep us posted OP

 

[fade]

If the OP lives in an area where there is NO other gym and wanted their child to be active in the summer and participate in an exercise program it would definitely be a problem.. just saying..and there is absolutely no excuse for how planet fitness conducts their business and I don't think any self respecting lifter would give them any business

...interested to see how it turns out..keep us posted OP

That's like saying you can't raise a religious child in a school full of atheists. If you do your job as a parent you will be able to influence your child early on and affect his thought process for his whole life.

Oh and pretty sure PF doesn't have anything for children.

I'll say this - if they come to my town and they are within a 5 minute drive of my house.. I will sure as shit be giving them my $10/month so I can go do some cardio there in the mornings rather than making the 15 minute drive to my normal gym.

 

[RONJON]

That's like saying you can't raise a religious child in a school full of atheists. If you do your job as a parent you will be able to influence your child early on and affect his thought process for his whole life.

Oh and pretty sure PF doesn't have anything for children.

I'll say this - if they come to my town and they are within a 5 minute drive of my house.. I will sure as shit be giving them my $10/month so I can go do some cardio there in the mornings rather than making the 15 minute drive to my normal gym.

hell no my kid would be home-schooled!

..yea that's true would be nice to pay a $10 membership to do morning cardio..judging by ur pic they definitely will not be catering to your kind tho bro

 

[fade]

hell no my kid would be home-schooled!

..yea that's true would be nice to pay a $10 membership to do morning cardio..judging by ur pic they definitely will not be catering to your kind tho bro

I'll wear a baggy t-shirt, baseball cap, and sweat pants

I have a feeling that if I'm wearing normal clothes and only doing cardio, they aren't going to just throw me out because I look like I workout.

 

[deceiver]

Offtopic but what's wrong with eating pizza after workout? My friend does that. He's an elite level powerlifter.

When you're ecto and don't really care if you're 15% bf or 10% bf and you need high calorie high carb meal... Then why not?

 

[buffquads]

Kinda let myself get out of shape 2 winters ago. Decided I'd join PF (IN NY)to warm up to a bigger gym after I got into better shape. When I started to get lean and ripped (NO DRUGS) I started to get funny looks from the employees. Then the regional manager came through on occasion and "asked" the employees about me. This was told to me from one of the employees... Next thing I know there was a problem with my membership since I was a past member of another PF (IN ALABAMA)which I'd just stopped going to and didn't give them a letter terminating my membership. They then used that as a way to get me out of that PF claiming I was a guest at their facility and my main membership was at the old one in bama.

If you are soft they want you there..the minute you become a hard body it's time to GO!!

 

[HardKnox]

Don't know if anyone pointed this out, but it's FOURTH Amendment, not FORTH.

And it's ludicrous, NOT Ludacris (because that's the rapper). These are the two that caught my eye

 

[SD1959]

That freakin lunk alarm thing gets me more than any of their other crap. Any douche for whatever reason can freely embarrass and humiliate you. Ironically, I'm guessing it's most often done when someone is working hard. Imagine, working hard in a "gym". What's that about?
I would also assume that Barnes and Noble would catch serious shit if they refused to allow high IQ people to sit and browse a book because it would make the average intelligence person feel self conscious.

 

[TODouble2]

I'll say this - if they come to my town and they are within a 5 minute drive of my house.. I will sure as shit be giving them my $10/month so I can go do some cardio there in the mornings rather than making the 15 minute drive to my normal gym.

bro, what makes you think they will even allow you to join?!?!?!?!? thats the whole point of this thread and for christ's sake you've been arguing in their favor! you'll be turned down because of the way you look! :banghead:

 

[TODouble2]

Offtopic but what's wrong with eating pizza after workout? My friend does that. He's an elite level powerlifter.

When you're ecto and don't really care if you're 15% bf or 10% bf and you need high calorie high carb meal... Then why not?

there's nothing wrong with it if you train hard and slam down a shitload of carbs PWO. but this is planet fitness where people don't train hard and are looking to lose weight. not the type of people looking for a PWO insulin spike!!

 

[TODouble2]

Don't know if anyone pointed this out, but it's FOURTH Amendment, not FORTH.

And it's ludicrous, NOT Ludacris (because that's the rapper). These are the two that caught my eye

ATTENTION EVERYONE! please check your spelling from here on out! we have a spelling monitor in the thread!! we don't want to upset him with our stupidity!

real nice addition to the thread. thanks for your input

and.... back to the topic at hand...

 

[RONJON]

Here ya go guys

 

[BOOMSHAKER]

That would be your job as a PARENT, not their job as a company.

Great point my friend...........