A class action lawsuit was filed last week against the 24 Hour Fitness chain, alleging discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin and gender.

According to the complaint — filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the law firm of Lewis, Feinberg, Renaker & Jackson on behalf of 24 Hour Fitness employees — the chain has systematically subjected minority and female employees to discrimination when it comes to promotions to management positions and equal compensation, and as a result has violated the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, as well as the California Business and Profession Code.

“Our allegations are that the individuals at the corporate level are spearheading the discrimination,” said Victor Viramontes, national senior counsel with MALDEF. “The basic theory of the case is that 24 Hour Fitness looks a little bit like a pyramid from the perspective of minorities [and] women. There are quite a few at the bottom, but as you go further up the chain of command, they lessen. … They are operating with a glass ceiling and are preventing minorities and women to go up the chain of command.”

Lead plaintiff Raoul Fulcher Jr., during an interview this week, alleges that he has been passed up for promotions because he is African-American. Fulcher has been an employee of 24 Hour Fitness since 1993. He took two years off, then returned in 2003.

Fulcher began as a sales representative before moving up to sales manager and assistant general manager. Since 1995, however, he has held the position of general club manager. The position, he said, that has been denied to him but has been acquired by Caucasian males with less years of experience has been that of district manager.

In a number of instances, Fulcher approached his District Manager and Regional Vice President, asking what he needs to do to receive a promotion. He said he was told that he had to exceed revenue goals, which he did. Later he was told that a person’s behavior weighs heavily on whether they get the position.

Then in 2007, Fulcher claims the Regional Vice President came to his club and questioned its performance. During the conversation, Fulcher said the RVP grew enraged and physically assaulted him. Days later, after Fulcher complained to the human resources department, he was given a disciplinary write-up from the district manager, which inaccurately stated that he had not hit his revenue goals or provided adequate leadership. Additionally, he claims he was threatened with being moved to a smaller, less desirable club location.

“I’ve witnessed Caucasians at entry level or new hires get promoted over me,” said Fulcher, “and I have seen this happen in other cases with other people.”

Fulcher said he believes the lack of promotion has to do with his race, not his performance. Since joining the chain, Fulcher has overseen roughly 17 locations, some of which he was appointed to open.

“You wouldn’t trust someone with all of this if you didn’t have faith that they could do the job,” he said. “I believe working the longest, putting forth hard effort needs to be rewarded. I have gotten positive results from not only staff but clients whose lives have been changed.”

In total there are six named plaintiffs, with African-Americans, Latinos and Asian-Americans among them.

Gender discrimination is also being alleged by female employees who say they have been denied promotions and raises. Instead, the positions and pay increases have gone to men.

Plaintiff Rebecca Mason said this happened in her case between 2008-2009. Mason began as an entry-level sales counselor before being promoted to assistant membership manager. During the latter, Mason said she performed the duties of a membership manager, while her title and compensation were that of an assistant membership manager. Mason claims she was told that the Berkeley club she was working for had no membership manager position.
In early 2008, Mason said she was promised the membership manager position — though it would be at a different club — if she hit her revenue goals.

“My work at the company was so valued,” Mason said. “And yet after that, even though I hit and exceeded sales goals, I was denied any further promotion.”

Months later, she said, 24 Hour Fitness created a membership manager position at the Berkeley club and promoted a much younger male employee with only several months on the job.

She was then promised the position at another club, but when it became available, it was given to another male employee. Mason was later transferred to a less desirable location in Concord. And in March 2009 she left the company because she felt that there was no opportunity to advance.

The complaint further notes that there is no uniform job position or application process, no promotion criterion, no evaluation standards and no guidelines to determine managerial compensation levels.

As a result, reads the complaint, subjective and bias decision-making has occurred, employees miss out on opportunities because the company fails to notify them when there is a job opening, applications are not considered before filling jobs, employees have no knowledge of what the company is looking for when it comes to promotions and some promotions are not based on job performance, but personality or personal connections.

The suit asks the court to order 24 Hour Fitness to end its discriminatory employment practices and provide back pay and damages to employees that have been unfairly treated.

The plaintiffs are asking for declaratory relief, injunctive relief, back pay and punitive damages that exceed $25,000.

At least four of the six named plaintiffs still work for 24 Hour Fitness. There have been no signs of retaliation thus far, said Scott and Viramontes.

The filing of the lawsuit is the first public document to begin litigation. After this, the defendant — 24 Hour Fitness — is expected to respond to the complaint.
According to Viramontes, 24 Hour Fitness has yet to reply to the suit.

From there, both sides will build their case with documentation before going to the court and seeking to have the case certified as a class action lawsuit.

Scott said the firm, along with MALDEF, will seek to recover data that gives them a breakdown of those in upper-management positions, including race, gender, performance and the number of years they have been with the company. They will then compare those to lower-level positions to see if there are any discrepancies.

If the complaint is granted class-action status it would represent hundreds, even thousands, of employees at the roughly 200 clubs throughout California.

In a statement provided to The Wave by 24 Hour Fitness, the chain said it “is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and we are deeply committed to providing a work environment that is free from unlawful discrimination and retaliation. 24 Hour Fitness makes its hiring and promotional decisions without regard to race, national origin, gender or any other protected basis. We firmly deny the allegations made in the complaint and we expect to prevail when all the facts are heard.”