LA Fitness Settles Contract Lawsuit With Multimillion Dollar Settlement

A motion filed in New Jersey federal court last week reveals that LA Fitness International has agreed to a settlement following a class action lawsuit over its membership contract. The lawsuit, alleging that the company’s contracts were deceptive and led to unfair fee charges, could potentially include a class of as many as 50,000 individuals, making the final settlement as much as $3.8 million.

She was charged automatic membership fees even after cancelling her LA Fitness membership.

Plaintiff Sophia Martina, who was awarded $14,000, claimed that she was charged automatic membership fees even after informing LA Fitness that she wanted to cancel her membership. Martina said in the suit that the training she had wanted was not available, but when she attempted to cancel her membership, found she had to send a written letter to the office in California – an unnecessarily burdensome process. LA Fitness membership fees continued to be taken from her account after she requested membership be cancelled at her local office, Martina alleged, leading Martina to dispute the payments and face legal action from Capital One, her bank. The bank’s suit was later dismissed pending the lawsuit against LA Fitness. The company will now pay Martina’s legal bills to Capital One.

As part of the wider settlement, class members will receive 45-day passes and either two training sessions (valued at $100) or the same value in credit towards membership in New Jersey. If all members of the class make their claim, the settlement will come to $3.8 million.

The suit was brought under the New Jersey Health Club Services Act, the Consumer Fraud Act, the Retail Installment Sales Act and the Warranty Act. The club denied that its membership agreement violated any of these laws. A similar lawsuit in Pennsylvania federal court moved to final approval last month. The outcome of that case will now exclude New Jersey LA Fitness members.

The initial complaint was filed in May 2012, with mediation beginning in November of that year. The settlement agreement was signed April 2013.