One local gym has filed a complaint seeking damages and relief against two former fitness class instructors who allegedly used confidential membership information to solicit members away from the gym and to their new fitness club.
Attorneys for the North Club, 1510 Martin St., filed a complaint in Centre County Court on Wednesday that said Claire Colebrook and Jinger Gottschall – both who are also currently instructors at Penn State and were fitness instructors at the North Club until November 2012 – used confidential membership information that was privy to them as instructors to contact members of the North Club about joining the pair’s new club, Fitology LLC.
Fitology LLC, 542 Westerly Pkwy., is scheduled to open in January. According to court documents, Colebrook announced Fitology’s opening to North Club members following a fitness class at the club and told them that she had been given permission by The North Club management to do so. The new club would be a direct competitor to the The North Club.
North Club management never gave Colebrook that permission, according to court documents, and said membership information is only released when it is pertinent to an employee’s work, as was the case with Gottschall, when she conducted research relative to fitness classes offered at the North Club.
The North Club is now seeking compensation for the significant time and effort it exhibited in order for Gottschall to conduct her research, according to court documents.
‘Gottschall and Colebrook improperly used their position of trust as employees and agents of The North Club for the purpose of misappropriating The North Club’s confidential and proprietary membership information to divert business from The North Club,’ court documents said.
The North Club also petitioned for an emergency injunction barring Colebrook and Gottschall from contacting, either indirectly or directly any members of the North Club via information they gleaned from the club. It also requires the women to destroy or delete all confidential information regarding The North Club and restricts them from sharing any of the information.
A hearing date was requested by The North Club and the right for the organization to begin a discovery period immediately.
