A lawsuit that commenced on October 2, 2006 alleged that 24 Hour Fitness, the nation's largest privately owned fitness center chain, violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (“EFTA”), and engaged in unfair and fraudulent business practices, as well as other violations of California's consumer protection statutes in charging monthly membership dues by unauthorized electronic funds transfer (“EFT”) after members provided notice of cancellation of their memberships. 24 Hour Fitness asserted that the class members had authorized the charges and denied any wrongdoing. The Court made no determination that 24 Hour Fitness had done anything wrong.

After 4 years of hard fought litigation, United States District Court Judge A. Howard Matz approved a class action settlement agreement that provided a $20 monetary reimbursement or a 3-month all-access membership certificate, valued between $150-$200, to just over 1.53 million class members nationwide. In Friedman v. 24 Hour Fitness, plaintiffs alleged fees had been deducted from their bank or credit card accounts after giving 24 Hour Fitness notice that they were cancelling their gym memberships.

For the full PR Newswire story, click here.