WQAD 11-13-2014

First Lawsuit Filed In Planet Fitness Secret Camera Case

November 13, 2014
By Chris Minor

An East Moline woman is suing Planet Fitness in Moline in the wake of secret cameras found hidden in the gym’s tanning booths.

A Chicago law firm filed the class action lawsuit on behalf of Mary Barnhill and other potential victims who may have been videotaped disrobing and getting into the tanning beds.

“The police contacted her (Barnhill) and were describing the tatoos on her body they were able to see from watching the videos”, attorney Tom Zimmerman said in a phone interview with WQAD on Thursday.

“Obviously, it’s a very traumatic experience knowing that you go into a private room and disrobe and lay  nude in a tanning bed and you’re actually being secretly videotaped”, he said.

The suit is asking for damages of more than 50 thousand dollars. It says Pla-Fit Franchise, a holding company out of New Hampshire, and MBM Fitness Management LLC.

It says Planet Fitness failed to create, implement, and enforce any policies or procedures to ensure the privacy and security of members.

A Moline man and member of the gym, Trent Hamer, has been arrested for allegedly placing hidden cameras in two tanning rooms. He is charged with unauthorized videotaping.