LA Fitness is under fire after an employee asked two black men to leave one of its New Jersey clubs on Monday. The gym chain has since apologized and promised to improve racial sensitivity training among its staffers.
One of the men, Tshyrad Oates, posted videos of the incident on Facebook. Oates wrote on Facebook that he had signed in with a four-day guest pass from his friend, a club member. “After about a half hour, I was approached by this same employee telling me that I had to leave or pay, and I explained to her that I just signed in with her with the guest pass,” he said. “She stated that it was my friend who did not pay (unaware that her manager had already signed him in with his membership pass). My friend stated to her that he is an active and current member and that his gym tag was in his locker.”
Oates says his friend “felt racially profiled and embarrassed by the harassment of this LA Fitness employee in front of other members at the gym.” The two continued working out before they were interrupted again — this time by two police officers, who questioned why they were working out with no memberships.
“We explained to them about our guest pass and rescanned my friend’s member tag, and it resulted in current active status,” Oates said. He and his friend started working out yet again but were reportedly told by an LA Fitness manager just 10 minutes later that they needed to leave. Then, Oates says that five police officers showed up and echoed that demand. Oates said that they weren’t given a reason why and were told that “I was banned from the gym and my friend’s gym membership has been terminated, effective immediately.”