Minnesota-based gym company Life Time Fitness, Inc. will pay $86,000 and furnish significant relief to resolve a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.
The EEOC charged in the suit that after two job interviews, Life Time Fitness told Emily Carpenter, who was applying for a job at its Rockville, Md., location, to come in to complete new hire paperwork so she could be placed on the schedule. When Carpenter emailed the gym with her work availability and advised that she was 35 weeks pregnant, the gym failed to schedule her for work and stopped communicating with her. A manager finally told her two weeks later that her position had been placed on hold and two other people had been hired. The manager encouraged her to apply for a position at another Life Time Fitness facility opening later that year, the EEOC said.
In addition to the $86,000 in monetary relief to Carpenter, the three-year consent decree resolving the suit enjoins Life Time Fitness from failing to hire based on sex, including pregnancy. The company will revise its non-discrimination policy to state that it does not discriminate on the basis of pregnancy and will disseminate the revised policy to all current and newly hired employees. The company will provide annual anti-discrimination training to all managers and hiring personnel at its Montgomery County, Md., facilities. Further, the company will also report to EEOC on its compliance with the consent decree, including how it handles any complaints of alleged pregnancy discrimination, and will post a notice regarding the settlement.