Almost 1,000 former employees of 24 Hour Fitness continue to pursue their former employer for unpaid overtime. A 2011 ruling decertified the collective action filed in California, and the case is now headed into arbitration where each of the 983 claims will be adjudicated by an arbitrator.
On December 2, 2011 a motion to compel arbitration was granted by the federal court in the Northern District of California ordering the first 16 claims to be arbitrated in the Northern District of California, where 24 Hour Fitness is headquartered. The case, originally filed as a collective action in 2006, alleges that 24 Hour Fitness denied overtime payments to manager and trainers in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
On December 5, 2011 attorneys for the employees filed petitions to compel arbitration for an additional 273 of the claimants, to be arbitrated in the Northern District of California. 24 Hour Fitness has opposed the petitions and filed competing petitions for arbitration in other states. Currently the court in the Northern District of California is considering the petitions and a motion by 24 Hour Fitness to transfer the cases to other states.
