BROOKLYN, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) – Former members of a gym allege the owners engaged in the fraudulent practice of charging membership fees after they gave notice of cancellation.
Charles Lehnert, Jennifer Musarra and Celine D’Amore filed a complaint on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated on May 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against Town Sports International LLC and Town Sports International Holdings Inc. alleging violation of consumer fraud and protection statutes of several states.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege they became members of the defendants' gyms and were told they could cancel their memberships at any time. They allege they never signed and/or were provided a written contract. The suit states the plaintiffs have attempted to cancel their memberships, have been unsuccessful at doing so, and that they are still being charged.
The plaintiffs hold Town Sports International LLC and Town Sports International Holdings Inc. responsible because the defendants allegedly refused to honor or process club members’ attempts to cancel their memberships, continued to charge class members' credit cards despite receiving cancellation requests, and forced the plaintiffs to instruct their bank to cease all payments to defendants to avoid any future charges.
The plaintiffs request a trial by jury and seek judgment against defendants, declaratory relief, certify class action, designate class representative and class counsel, interest, statutory damages, attorneys’ fees, costs and further relief that the court deems just. They are represented by David E. Gottlieb and Taylor J. Crabill of Wigdor LLP in New York.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York case number 1:18-cv-02705