Lawsuit Alleges Women Were Secretly Recorded Nude in Planet Fitness Tanning Booths

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – A lawsuit filed in the County of San Luis Obispo Superior Court alleges that dozens of women were secretly filmed while nude inside tanning booths at the Planet Fitness in Arroyo Grande.

The law firms of Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos and the Law Offices of Tristan Verburgt have filed the suit on behalf of two female gym members, Jane Does 1 and 2, who regularly used the facilities between 2022 and 2026. The lawsuit alleges causes of action for gross negligence, invasion of right to privacy, as well as intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

According to the complaint, the San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s office earlier this spring contacted the plaintiffs to let them know they’d been among nearly 50 female gym members captured in multiple separate videos taken inside the private tanning booth rooms. The alleged perpetrator would use his thumb and thumb nail to unlock the door, go inside to record the nude women, and then leave the room, per the lawsuit.

“Gym members have a reasonable expectation of privacy while using tanning booth rooms in Planet Fitness facilities, and Planet Fitness had an ongoing responsibility to take measures to prevent circumstances like this from occurring,” said Ilya Frangos, Partner and Trial Lawyer for Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos. “No one should have to wonder whether they are being secretly recorded while undressed in a place that is supposed to be safe and private.”

Law enforcement identified videos of the individuals on a cellphone seized pursuant to a search warrant. The recordings were made over an extended period, according to the lawsuit.

“We believe there may be additional women who were affected and have not yet been identified, and we encourage anyone who believes they may be a victim to come forward,” Frangos said.

The lawsuit alleges that Planet Fitness employees knew or should have known of the perpetrator’s intrusion into these private rooms and should have taken measures to prevent this repeated conduct from occurring.

At a minimum, the lawsuit contends that Planet Fitness had a duty and responsibility to ensure that adequate training, protocols, and procedures were in place to identify and prevent this type of behavior.

“The repeated egregious conduct over the course of nearly a year is evidence of the woefully insufficient protections for these victims, all of whom expected, as Black Card members, to use the Planet Fitness amenities in complete privacy, inside rooms that they believed to be secured with locks that they believed to be working properly, resulting in a profound invasion of privacy for numerous women.” said Tristan Verburgt, trial attorney with the Law Offices of Tristan Verburgt.

“The allegations in this lawsuit suggest that those expectations were betrayed and that conduct occurring repeatedly over the course of nearly a year went undetected or unaddressed.”

About Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos is a personal injury and employment law trial firm representing clients in serious and catastrophic injury cases, wrongful termination, wage and hour, and whistleblower retaliation cases.

About The Law Offices of Tristan Verburgt: Tristan Verburgt is a former prosecutor and represents clients in personal injury, employment law, and sexual abuse cases.

For further information contact Ilya D. Frangos, Esq., at ifrangos@gff-law.com or Tristan Verburgt, Esq. at tristanverburgt@defenselawsb.com