New York’s attorney general is going to the mat for David Barton Gym members — who were abruptly locked out of the Manhattan fitness facilities after the company suddenly declared bankruptcy in December.
AG Eric Schneiderman is suing the gym’s parent company, Club Ventures Investments LLC, on behalf of 5,000 members who’d paid up to $15,000 training packages that they’ll never be able to use.
“Health clubs must own up to their responsibilities to their members. They cannot be open one day and closed the next without proper notice to their membership, and must provide refunds for services not provided,” Schneiderman said in a statement.
The national health club chain, which founder David Barton sold to Club Ventures in 2013, had four Manhattan locations frequented by local celebrities, including Anderson Cooper and Daniel Craig.
Most gym goers had paid at least a monthly installment for yearly memberships ranging from $1,000 to $1,700, although one person had forked over $15,000 for a premium-training package, the
Manhattan Supreme Court suit says. About ten percent of the 5,000 members had prepaid for the entire year, according to court papers.
The suit says the gyms were “well aware” of their “financially precarious position” yet continued to enroll members and advertise on social media until just days before closing on Dec. 21, 2016.
“Consumers who showed up to work-out [on Dec. 21] were instead left out in the cold,” Schneiderman said in a statement.
The AG is seeking an unspecified amount of money, equal to full refunds for all members.
A rep for the health clubs did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
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