Portland man files $1.5 million discrimination lawsuit against 24 Hour Fitness
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A Portland man filed a $1.5 million lawsuit against 24 Hour Fitness, claiming he was racially profiled while trying to exercise at the business’ Gresham location, according to court documents.
The lawsuit was filed on March 5 by Rishon Hall — a Black man from Portland — who claims he was discriminated against by 24 Hour Fitness employee Gratian Russell at the gym on Northeast 181st Avenue, as first reported by Willamette Week.
Hall claims there is evidence that 24 Hour Fitness did not conduct a background check before hiring Russell and did not view his public social media accounts — noting Russell “has a history of publishing racially insensitive and racially inflammatory posts” on his public Facebook page, according to court documents.
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Around Feb. 13, Hall was exercising at the Gresham gym when Russell accused him of violating the gym’s membership policies at the Hollywood District location, the lawsuit alleges.
According to court documents, Hall responded that he never used the Hollywood District gym, and that Russell was racially profiling him.
In response, Russell asked Hall for his ID, but after he refused, Russell continued to misidentify him as another member who violated the membership policies, the lawsuit alleges. Russell then asked Hall to follow him to the front desk to cancel his membership and threatened to call police.
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Later, Hall left the gym after Russell approached him with another employee, asked for his ID, and threatened to cancel his membership, court documents say.
The next day, an employee told Hall that his membership was not cancelled and “not to worry about further harassment and that Russell was known to act in unusual ways,” the lawsuit claims.
Hall continued facing issues at the gym on Feb. 18 when he checked in at the front desk and Russell told him to leave and threatened to call police — who later responded to the gym and told Hall to leave after Russell claimed he was trespassing, the lawsuit says.
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According to court documents, Hall reported the incidents to the general manager of the Gresham and Hollywood District locations and was told she would investigate and speak with Russell. The manager also told Hall that his membership was still active, and that he could return as of Feb. 23.
Around Feb. 24, Russell threatened to call police again when Hall checked into the gym despite a computer showing his active gym status, the lawsuit alleges.
Russell called police. However, officers confirmed Hall was not trespassing and that his membership was still active, according to court documents.
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In another incident on March 3, Russell approached Hall — asking him to leave and threatening to call police, according to court documents. The lawsuit claims there is evidence showing Russell falsely told police that Hall trespassed and threatened to physically harm him.
Overall, the lawsuit seeks $1.5 million — alleging Russell knowingly caused police to infringe Hall’s rights in the Oregon and United States Constitutions, caused him to feel harassed, and may permanently suffer from embarrassment, fear, anger, and indignity.
The lawsuit also claims 24 Hour Fitness failed to adequately train their employees to prevent violations of customer’s rights and failed to conduct background checks on their employees.
KOIN 6 News reached out to 24 Hour Fitness but has not heard back.
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