Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA)
June 19
Fired gym employee wins $2.4 million settlement former 24 hour fitness staffer says she was demoted, then fired after alleging sexual harassment
Author: nathaniel hoffman, times staff writer
Edition: Final
Section: news
Page: a03
Index Terms: settlement, harassment, employment
Estimated printed pages: 3
Article Text:
A clique of men who worked with Cynthia Malek at four Bay Area 24 Hour Fitness health clubs routinely told her they wanted to sleep with her, pulled her onto their laps and touched her inappropriately, a private arbitrator has found after seven years of secret proceedings.
The company paid Malek $2.4 million in damages after she forced her former employer into arbitration, alleging a regime of sexual harassment and retaliation against her when she complained.
"It shouldn't have happened in the first place, " Malek, 48, of Pleasant Hill, said this week.
A Contra Costa County Superior Court judge ruled last week, over the objections of the company, to allow Malek's attorneys to make the award public.
The binding order by Orinda arbitrator Barbara Chvany paints a picture of the repeated harassment of Malek by eight men who worked as gym managers, trainers or sales counselors from August 1995 to January 1997, when Malek was fi! Red.
It charges the company — up to the office of the company president — with ignoring Malek's repeated reports of harassment and then retaliating against her by demoting and firing her.
Malek said she went into the job hoping to help people get in shape, but found that her colleagues in membership sales were more interested in selling health club contracts and partying.
"They're not there for health, " Malek said. "They need to shape up."
A company spokeswoman said 24 Hour Fitness forbids any form of sexual harassment and was disappointed with the decision and the amount of the award.
"We did an internal investigation and came to a different conclusion than what the arbitrator found, " Allyson Savage said. "We dispute (Malek's) accounts of harassment — she was demoted because of her performance record."
Malek signed an agreement when she was hired that any dispute with the San Ramon-based fitness center chain would be resolved ou! T of court through private arbitration, said Malek's attorney Jean Hya ms.
"If you want a job with them, then they force you to sign away one of your fundamental rights as an American, " Hyams said.
The arbitration process, similar to a trial but held in private without a jury, took seven years. Many of the men implicated have moved from the Bay Area, and the Times was not able to locate them for comment.
Malek started working at the Hayward club in 1995 and was promoted within a year to corporate manager with responsibilities for five Bay Area clubs.
According to the arbitrator's findings, another Hayward sales counselor, Daniel Botnik, moaned and groaned while Malek ate a banana. Sales counselor Daniel Iniguez repeatedly pulled her onto his lap and touched her inappropriately, Chvany's report stated. Other employees tried to kiss her, talked to her about sexual dissatisfaction with their wives and requested sex on office desks and closets.
Will Rhodes, then an assistant general manager at a 24 Hour Fitness br! Anch in Oakland, wanted to have sex in a closet and called Malek "baby, " the arbitrator found. Rhodes, who still works at the Daly City 24 Hour Fitness, declined comment but offered to sell a club membership.
Managers in Fremont and San Leandro were also implicated by the arbitrator's findings.
In arbitration, the company denied all of the harassment charges and argued that Malek would have been fired even if she had not reported the harassment.
Chvany found that 24 Hour Fitness did not take appropriate measures to prevent sexual harassment, subjected Malek to a "gender-based hostile environment, " failed to address her complaints and then retaliated against her for reported abuses.
"Based on Cindy's experience, there was a culture at 24 Hour Fitness that was very disturbing, " Hyams said. "I think Cindy did what a lot of women do, which is try to find a way to manage the situation."
Malek is still working in sales but said she has yet to re! Gain her confidence and is reticent to try for a promotion. She still works out several times a week, but is not willing to work in the fitness industry, even though she could earn more.
"I go nuts when I see a (24 Hour Fitness) commercial, " she said.
Caption:
Cynthia Malek won a $2.4 million settlement against 24 Hour Fitness, where she worked from August 1995 to January 1997. An arbitrator reported that Malek was repeatedly harassed by eight men who worked as gym managers, trainers or sales counselors.
Copyright (c) 2004 Contra Costa Times.
Record Number: 2004171956
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