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Sexual Harassment at the Gym

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roxie

Junior Member
This is my first time posting, and I'd like some thoughts on how to proceed here, and more specifically, how my situation can be legally addressed.

Here's the situation: I work out at LA Fitness, in Philadelphia. I work out with my husband frequently, and lately we've encounted a group of obnoxious guys at the gym. They leer at me as if I'm on stage at a strip club, making jokes to each other, staring at me NON STOP and making it quite uncomfortable for me to work out there. There is one guy in particular who makes comments to me, sort of under his breath.

The other night, my husband went to the gym alone and encountered the same guys. The one guy mentioned above said something extremely disrespectful and intimidating to my husband about me. My husband, being the gentlemen that he is, ignored the jerk, despite the urge and ability to knock his teeth down his throat. I won't repeat what was said, because it's really vulgar.

Upon finding out about this, I went straight to the manager (last night). I told him in no uncertain terms that this is completely unacceptable behavior in general, let alone at a place where I pay to attend. I told the manager that he needs to revoke the guy's membership (only the one guy) or I'm terminating my contract with the gym. I explained that this is not even close to being the first or only time I've been hit on or bothered by a guy at a gym, but that this has clearly crossed a line. I have never complained about this sort of thing before, and I'm not easily offended, but he was definitely out of line- big time. I should also mention that when we went to the manager with the complaint, he already knew the group of guys we were referencing before even describing them. He knew them as being a disruptive group.

What the manager said was that he wants to take care of it, but he's got to talk to the guy first. (Of course this guy wasn't there last night for me to point him out.) The manager wants to get his side of the story. I can understand this, however there's nothing this guy can say that makes this behavior OK. He was clearly trying to harass and/or intimidate me and my husband.

My question is: can sexual harassment outside the workplace be addressed legally? Although I don't have it in writing right now, I'm pretty sure the gym has a code of conduct, and this behavior is in violation of it. If this particular manager does not rectify the situation, do I have any legal recourse? I don't want to make empty threats, and I do want to be clear about my rights.

Please advise!
 


roxie

Junior Member
I know it's a duplicate, but I wasn't sure where to post this, so I posted in two areas that I thought might be relevant.
 

roxie

Junior Member
Guru,
If you're interested in being helpful... can you tell me which forum would be most appropriate?
 

Beth3

Senior Member
It doesn't matter because nothing illegal has taken place. These guys being world-class immature jerks leering at you and making vulgar comments does not violate any laws. If the manager doesn't attend to the situation immediately, then if I were you I'd take my business elsewhere and write a letter to their corporate headquarters informing them exactly why you and your husband resigned your memberships.
 

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