Will Superior Court Judge Give Final Approval to $36M Equinox Settlement?

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In recent news, an Alameda County Superior Court judge gave Equinox a nod indicating they can expect to receive final approval on the $36 million global settlement to resolve California state and federal labor law allegations claiming Equinox pushed more than 15,000 employees to complete off-the-clock work and skip meal periods, and rest breaks.

The Case: Fodera v. Equinox Holdings

The Court: U.S. District Court of Northern California

The Case No.: 19-cv-05072-WHO

The Plaintiff: Fodera v. Equinox Holdings

The plaintiffs in the case are group fitness instructors and personal trainers employed in a nonexempt status. The plaintiffs claim they regularly worked over 40 hours in one workweek and more than 8 hours in one workday. According to the complaint, nonexempt workers were paid hourly for the time they were clocked in and at a piece rate for finishing specific tasks. Equinox allegedly let plaintiffs and qualifying class members complete numerous tasks off-the-clock without pay, such as:

  • Interacting with clients outside of classes or training sessions

  • Organizing and creating calendars for scheduling

  • Scheduling work meetings

  • Engaging with supervisors

  • Contacting prospective clients

  • Prepping client programs for sessions.

In addition to not receiving pay for the hours required to complete the off-the-clock tasks, the hours spent were also not considered for overtime calculations.

The Defendant: Fodera v. Equinox Holdings

The defendant in the case, Equinox, owns and operates luxury health clubs in California. According to allegations in the labor law complaint, Equinox's published policies discouraged/prohibited workers from submitting all the hours they worked. For instance, personal trainers were limited to two to three hours weekly for session-related activities. They were required to reach out to management if they felt they needed to spend more time than that on their fitness programming outside of training sessions. According to the plaintiffs, performing all the tasks associated with programming required by Equinox within the time allotted was not realistic. As a result, plaintiffs claim that Equinox's standard policy resulted in inaccurate wages, overtime wages, and wage statements.

The Case: Fodera v. Equinox Holdings

In the case, Fodera v. Equinox Holdings, the $36 million wage and hour settlement approved by the court represents the resolution of claims from numerous California State and Federal Court cases. The hefty settlement covers a class of more than 15,000 hourly nonexempt current and former Equinox workers employed from April 2015 to December 2022. The class includes a PAGA group of nonexempt personal trainers and fitness instructors. Equinox allegedly failed to pay for pre-short work and post-shift work. Additionally, the plaintiffs pointed out that Equinox's company policy regarding meal periods, rest breaks, wage statements, and other wage and hour practices are not in line with labor law requirements. Superior Court Judge Herbert issued final settlement approval on September 21, 2023.

If you have questions about how to file a California wage and hour lawsuit, please get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in various law firm offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.