Equinox gym to pay former employee more than $11 million to settle discrimination suit

Röbynn Europe’s lawsuit centered mostly on claims that a middle-aged white man, who she said was shielded by his ties to people in positions above her, refused to accept her as his boss. 

An Equinox gym on New York’s Upper East Side will pay a Black former employee $11.25 million to resolve a racial discrimination lawsuit.

A primarily white jury of five women and three men ruled in favor of former professional bodybuilder Röbynn Europe, demanding that she be paid $10 million for punitive damages and $1.25 million in distress awards. According to The New York Times, Europe oversaw personal trainers at the gym between 2018 and 2019. 

Equinox let her go in less than a year after claiming she was late 47 times over 10 months. Shortly after, she filed a complaint in Manhattan federal court, alleging she had been subjected to a hostile work environment and ultimately fired because of her race and gender.

Europe never contested that she frequently arrived late for work. However, her attorneys showed the jury a graphic that showed how often other people failed to arrive on time, albeit with relatively few repercussions.

“Racism and sexism — they are just pervasive in the fitness industry,” Europe said, The Times reported. “In coastal cities, training is something you can do without a degree, and you can make $75 an hour — there are not a lot of opportunities to do that, so it’s a big draw for people of color.” 

Europe’s lawsuit centered mostly on claims that a middle-aged white man she characterized as shielded by his connections to individuals above her refused to accept her as his boss. 

She said he frequently made crude comments about Black female bodies, labeled coworkers of color “lazy” and called one Black colleague “auitstic,” and voiced the hope he could get them fired.

In one instance, he allegedly “demanded” that Europe wait outside the gym with him for a young Black woman to exit the cafe where she worked so he could hit on her, believing a Black person’s presence would improve his chances of a positive interaction. The lawsuit claims Europe “refused to be a racial pawn.”

Europe said the cumulative effect of the events made her tenure at Equinox so stressful that it exacerbated the bulimia she had battled for a large portion of her life and prompted her to enroll in an eating disorder treatment center. 

Attorneys representing Equinox did not deny that Europe’s subordinate made racially and sexually offensive remarks but contended they were insufficient to prove that the workplace was hostile.

While testifying, Europe recalled an instance when she received a call from a person who dealt with members directly, sharing that a client expressly requested a white trainer. She clarified that such a request put the business at risk and needed to be addressed by a supervisor, who, to her dismay, honored the customer’s request.

Her female attorneys, who work for the self-described “feminist litigation firm” Crumiller, asserted that male superiors ignored their client’s concerns.

​​Equinox released a statement in response to the ruling, stating it “vehemently disagreed” with the conclusion and does not “tolerate discrimination in any form.” 

The gym, which asked the court to reconsider the case either with a new trial or a reduction in the award, argued that Europe’s emotional suffering due to her time at the gym was not “egregious” enough to support the sum of money in damages the jury ordered.

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