Downing v. Life Time Fitness Inc.
| Decision Date | 24 May 2011 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 10-11037 |
| Parties | KRISTY J. DOWNING, Plaintiff, v. LIFE TIME FITNESS, INC., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan |
Honorable Patrick J. Duggan
At a session of said Court, held in the U.S.
of Michigan, on_May 24, 2011.
PRESENT: THE HONORABLE PATRICK J. DUGGAN
In this action, Kristy Downing ("Plaintiff) alleges that Life Time Fitness, Inc. ("Defendant") and its employees violated state and federal laws in connection with her use of Defendant's health clubs. Presently before the Court is Defendant's motion to dismiss or for summary judgment, filed on February 28, 2011 pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) and 56. The matter has been fully briefed, and the Court heard oral arguments on May 17, 2011. For the reasons stated below, the Court grants Defendant's motion for summary judgment.
Defendant operates a number of health clubs, including a club in Canton Township,Michigan. Only club members are permitted to use Defendant's facilities, and members pay a monthly fee for their privileges. In August 2008, Plaintiff joined Defendant's club by signing both a Member Usage Agreement and General Terms Agreement. See Compl. Ex. A.1 The Usage Agreement provides:
Life Time Fitness may terminate my membership or any member at any time for failure to comply with any of the rules and regulations adopted by Life Time Fitness or for conduct Life Time Fitness determines to be improper or contrary to the best interests of Life Time Fitness.
Id. at 5. Plaintiff began using Defendant's facilities on a regular basis, and in September 2008, purchased a fitness examination and consultation from Defendant. Compl. ¶ 13. Plaintiff claims that she received "legitimate results" from this examination. Id. Plaintiff claims that two of Defendant's employees contacted her via text messages on her mobile phone in March 2009. Jeff Morton allegedly invited her to play basketball at Defendant's club on a Saturday evening. Compl. Ex. C at 4. Plaintiff further alleges that a few days later, an employee identified only as "Eboni" contacted her. Id. Plaintiff replied to both employees, questioning their sincerity, and claims that by the following morning, the text messages had disappeared from her phone. Id. Plaintiff reported this incident to the Canton Police on March 7, 2009. Id. The police contacted Eboni, who explained that Plaintiff had inquired about joining a basketball league, and promised to cease further contact. Compl. Ex. B. Canton Police closed the investigation, finding that no crime had been committed. Id. Plaintiff alleges that Morton has since "gone out of hisway to appear in Plaintiff's line-of-sight when she is at Defendant's center." Compl. ¶ 12.
In approximately October 2009, Vincent Orsini became the General Manager of Defendant's Canton health club. Plaintiff claims that Orsini encouraged employees to harass and intimidate her. Id. ¶ 8. She alleges that Defendant's employees laughed at her, made degrading comments to her, made "sarcastic inquiries" as to how she was doing, forced and staged interactions with her, and used devices to observe her activities. Id. Plaintiff alleges that because she is African-American, Defendant specifically recruited African-American employees to engage in these behaviors in order to mask discriminatory intent. Id. ¶ 9.
On November 3, 2009, Plaintiff purchased two additional fitness exams from Defendant. She alleges that Defendant provided "illegitimate results" for these exams, recommending that she consume 3,500 calories per day and exercise at a higher heart rate to achieve her weight loss goals. Id. ¶ 14-15. Plaintiff complained to Orsini about these results and demanded a refund. She claims that Orsini refused. Id. ¶ 16.
On November 20, 2009, Plaintiff filed this suit in the Small Claims Division of Michigan's 35th District Court. She alleged that Defendant harassed her by providing "fraudulent fitness advice so she would gain weight," having employees and others "stalk her," and having staff "aggressively greet her so as to intimidate her." Compl. Ex. H.
On December 3, 2009, Plaintiff entered Defendant's Canton club and claims that Jamie Kazzanowski, an employee at the front desk, sarcastically yelled to her, "have a nice workout!" Compl. ¶ 18. Plaintiff alleges that she asked Kazzanowski not to speak with her again. Id. Defendant claims that Plaintiff pointed her finger at Kazzanowski and saidin a threatening manner, "don't talk to me when I come into the club . . . you know what I mean." Def.'s Br. Supp. Mot. Summ. J. 2.
Plaintiff alleges that throughout December 2009, Defendant's employees continued their sarcastic behavior, asking her questions such as how she was doing, or if she was "hanging on by a thin thread." Compl. ¶ 19. On December 20, 2009, Plaintiff sent Orsini an e-mail containing vague allegations of racially discriminatory behavior by Defendant's staff. Compl. Ex. I. The only specific misconduct alleged was a towel attendant's speaking to Plaintiff when he was apparently directed not to do so. Id. On January 1, 2010, Plaintiff contacted another employee, Connie Scaparo, and asked Scaparo not to speak to her or purposefully appear in her line of sight. Def.'s Br. Supp. Mot. Summ. J. Ex. K. Plaintiff also asked Scaparo to tell Defendant's yoga instructors not to walk over to her and instruct her during classes. Id.
On January 7, 2010, Plaintiff sought leave to amend her original Complaint and at that same time "filed" with the court her proposed Amended Complaint. In her proposed Amended Complaint, Plaintiff sought to add a claim arising under the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981. On February 17, 2010, the 35th District Court held a hearing on the motion to amend, and granted the motion. The Court also entered a scheduling order. That same day, Defendant elected to terminate Plaintiff's membership pursuant to the terms of the Membership Usage Agreement. Defendant sent Plaintiff a letter explaining:
Life Time has determined that you have engaged in conduct in its Canton club that is improper or contrary to Life Time's best interests, including acting in an inappropriate or threatening manner toward various Life Time employees,making unsubstantiated claims of harassment and stalking against various Life Time employees, demanding that Life Time employees act contrary to the company's customer-focused mission when interacting with you, impeding the ability of Life Time employees to satisfactorily perform their job functions, and violating the terms of your myLT.com Use Agreement. Accordingly, your membership with Life Time has been terminated.
Pl.'s Br. Opp'n Summ. J. Ex. E. Defendant terminated Plaintiff's membership effective February 17, 2010, refunding the unused portion of her monthly membership fee. Id.
Plaintiff responded in an e-mail message to Orsini on February 19, 2010, asserting that because of pending litigation, Defendant could not terminate her membership. Def.'s Br. Supp. Mot. Summ. J. Ex. L. Defendant's counsel responded via mail and e-mail in a message dated February 19, 2010, stating in part:
following day, February 20, 2010. Defendant's employees requested that Plaintiff leave the premises, but she refused. Defendant's employees contacted Canton police, who also asked Plaintiff to leave the premises. After Plaintiff refused, Canton police arrested her and ticketed her for trespassing. Compl. Ex. O.
Plaintiff received an e-mail from "lifetimefitness@emails.lifetimefitness.com" on February 26, 2010, stating:
Join Life Time Fitness now and receive 4 personal training sessions - 2 sessions when you sign up + 1 session at 6 months + 1 session at 12 months. Plus, pay $0 enrollment fee now through Sunday, February 28th.
Pl.'s Br. Opp'n Summ. J. Ex. W. The signature at the end of the e-mail stated that it was from Anthony Vitale, Member Advisor of Defendant's Canton club. Id. Plaintiff returned to the club on February 27, 2010 and filled out a membership application. Defendant's employees soon realized that Plaintiff was in the building and asked her to leave. She refused, and was again arrested by Canton Police for trespassing. Compl. Ex. R. The charge was dismissed due to the possibility that Defendant inadvertently scheduled the appointment. Defendant stated that it would remove Plaintiff from its e-mail lists. I...
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