An in-depth article ran on March 12, 2018 in Capital & Main describing the on-going battle between 24 Hour Fitness and its employees. At the center of these disputes is the company’s employee arbitration agreements that the National Labor Relations Board contends violate federal labor law.
The first cases were filed in federal courts back in 2000. According to the article, the company has had more than eight times as many cases filed against them than have been filed against its closest competitor on a per establishment basis. The article says the case count is now 621.
The article credits this large number of cases to the battle between 24 Hour Fitness and plaintiff attorney Richard Donahoo, who pursued individual cases after a federal judge decertified the case. “Our case became a ‘careful what you wish for’ scenario for the company,” the article quotes Donahoo. 24 Hour Fitness eventually settled the cases together.
The dispute with the NLRB could make it to the Supreme Court next term. At issue is whether 24 Hour Fitness employment contracts violate worker protections by asking employees to waive the right to join a class action.
Read the full article “Why 24 Hour Fitness is Going to the Mat Against Its Own Employees”.
