LA Fitness members in Montebello accuse company of racial profiling

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Members of the LA Fitness athletic club in Montebello held a news conference today outside of the Beverly and Wilcox location and claimed that LA Fitness is practicing a corporate policy of racial profiling. On Dec. 1 LA Fitness took control of the club after purchasing 171 Bally Fitness locations nationwide. Javier Rodriguez has been a member of the club since 1987. He says while the conditions under Bally weren't great, the situation with the new management is far worse. "There's no soap," Rodriguez said. "No hot water... The floors are dirty. The restroom is dirty. The locker room is dirty. The sauna, steam rooms, work only at times and they're also not cleaned regularly. The same thing with the jacuzzi and what is called the cold deep pool, they're out completely. They haven't been working in over a month." Rodriguez also said the club's workout machines weren't being properly maintained and many are now out of operation. He said the reason the club is kept in such poor conditions is the club's predominately Latino membership. Rodriguez claimed LA Fitness locations in white neighborhoods, like Hollywood, are in far better condition than the Montebello site. He thinks LA Fitness is trying to make longtime Bally members like himself voluntarily leave their contracts to make way for new members and higher fees. When Annenberg Radio called the Montebello club today a staff member referred us to the company's corporate office. LA Fitness media relations didn't return our call. Rodriguez indicated that he and other members want to join lawsuits against LA Fitness filed this month in states like Pennsylvania and New Jersey. According to the Courier-Post in southern New Jersey, more than 50 former Bally members there are suing against new, unfair "additional conditions, commitments or costs," among other complaints including consumer fraud.