A Texas woman says she found out she’d been secretly filmed naked at her gym only when police called to tell her. Now she’s suing the company that runs the Planet Fitness where it allegedly happened, arguing the gym was warned about similar incidents elsewhere and did nothing.
The lawsuit, filed October 6 in Collin County, names Excel Fitness Holdings, LLC and Excel Fitness DFW 21, LLC, which operate the Planet Fitness at 6951 Preston Road in Frisco. The plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe, was a longtime member. According to the complaint, a male member filmed her without her knowledge while she undressed and used a tanning bed in a room she believed was private. She learned about it only when Frisco police contacted her.
“It has put me in a mental tailspin,” she said. “My whole sense of privacy was invaded.”
Frisco police have since arrested 38-year-old Eli Phillip Rodriguez, of Aubrey, Texas. According to the department, he was arrested after an investigation into invasive visual recording involving an adult woman at a local fitness center, and during that investigation he was also found to be in possession of child pornography. He has been charged with invasive visual recording, a state jail felony punishable by 180 days to two years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, and possession of child pornography, a third-degree felony carrying two to ten years and up to $10,000. He was booked at the Collin County Sheriff’s Office. The charges are allegations, and he has not been convicted. Police are asking anyone with information about this case or similar incidents to call (972) 292-6010.
While the person who actually did the recordings is facing charges, Jane Doe thinks more needs to be done. Her attorneys say police found multiple recordings and additional victims, and that the man had been secretly recording women for an extended period of time. The complaint alleges that more than 55 women were secretly recorded while naked across seven Planet Fitness facilities. This kind of widespread failure shows that the company did not put adequate safeguards, procedures, or staff training in place. Those figures come from the plaintiff’s filing. Police haven’t publicly confirmed them in the materials released so far.
“When a gym claims to provide a private room, customers have every reason to believe they will actually be private,” said attorney Rogge Dunn, founder of the Rogge Dunn Group. He says the suit is meant to force change. “We’re filing this lawsuit so Planet Fitness will take notice and increase their security.” Dunn said his client wants tanning booths and dressing rooms inspected to make sure customers are protected. The plaintiff is seeking more than $1 million, including compensatory and punitive damages, and has requested a jury trial.
Planet Fitness said in a statement that the safety and privacy of its members “is our top priority” and that the franchise group is working closely with police. It directed further questions to the authorities.
But it seems that Planet Fitness doesn’t want to take accountability. Even after the alleged incident, Doe says she couldn’t cancel her membership online. Members have to physically go to the facility. “You had to relive all that,” she said.
As of now, none of the recordings have been posted online (or at least have not been found). However, with cases like this, that’s often where recordings end up. The federal Take It Down Act, whose enforcement began in May, requires platforms to remove non-consensual intimate imagery within 48 hours of a valid request. But often by that time the damage has been done.
With how easy it is to upload these kinds of recordings, it’s important for places like Planet Fitness to ensure privacy for their customers. And to take accountability if they fail to do so.