I began working for Orange Theory Fitness earlier this year, going into training in late January.
Sexual Assault
On my first day out of training, a client grabbed my ass. She did the same to many other people that day. The Head Coach who was training me at the time did nothing about any of it. I've suffered 9 sexual assaults in my life, so I don't take this action lightly when it happens to me or to others.
I reported to my supervisors and co-workers immediately that a client just sexually assaulted me. They responded, “that's just how she is, she does that.” I reported it many times and was always met with the same answer.
They went on to ask me to pick up more hours. They presented it to me as “we need someone to cover all these hours, if you grab 2 or 3, or all of them if you want, that'd be awesome.” So I took all of them, doubling my hours.
After my 3rd complaint in late March, I was 'spoken to' and told, “there will be no investigation or action taken” against the perpetrator – but I was given an 'informal verbal warning' about missing a meeting due to having another job.
After my complaining, suddenly those hours they need me to take were going to be cut.
They left me with no choice but to formally complain, reach out to a lawyer, and to start the process to press criminal charges against the perpetrator.
Since the assault, I began having recurring nightmares for the first time in my life about what happened to me as a child. Every. Single. Night. They got worse after being told no action would be taken.
About a week ago, I had a full blown PTSD episode as I woke up from one of these nightmares, which lead to me fainting, hitting my face on a bathtub edge, getting up, fainting again and hitting the tile floor on the same side. I have 12 stitches in my face now and a concussion. My eyelids keep twitching since this, and I have constant headaches, fatigue, and frequent nausea. I'm scared to sleep and it's taking it's toll.
Wage Theft
Coaches are expected to arrive 30 minutes prior to class starting so we can get ready. Unpaid.
If there is a new person joining, we have to give them an introduction to the gym, get to know them, show them around, and what to expect. Unpaid.
We have 15 minutes between class that we have to prep, clean, and work with intros. Unpaid.
At the end of our shift, we have to stay after and clean. Unpaid.
We MUST train 2x per week at OTF. Unpaid.
This all can easily total 12 or more hours of work per week of stolen wages.
Further Wage Theft
We are paid based on the number of people in class – 1-10 people is $25 for the hour. But if that class is only 5-7, they will cancel it despite it being listed as “1-10 participants – $25” with no mention of classes ever being cancelled. In this case, OTF still makes money and clients get their sessions adjusted fairly, but the coach does not get paid. They simply lose that pay at no fault of their own and have no say in cancelling classes. It would take the next class having 17+ people in order to make up for the loss.
How many thousands of coaches has OTF stolen from for all the years it's been active? How much money is owed to these coaches?
Members and Coaches – we need to work together to make OTF change how they treat us
Members/clients, your safety is clearly not a concern as I witnessed this client sexually assaulting many other people with the company throwing their hands up about it. It's up to you to demand that the coaches you love be respected and treated well, as well as properly compensated for ALL of their time and effort. You are the ones who can really make the impact that OTF will listen to.
Coaches, our best shot is to unionize. You've been stolen from and put in precarious positions with sexual predators allowed on premises. Stand up for yourselves and stop being stolen from and mistreated. The work world has to change, OTF is no different. Your skills and time are valuable and you are being taken advantage of. We should be paid for ALL of our time.
HR emailed me yesterday about my formal complaint, wanting to set up a call. I stated I'd only speak to them via email or with us both recording and/or my lawyer present. They didn't respond.
Today, I showed up with HR waiting for me and perp walked me out in front of my clients. My “verbal warning” suddenly turned into an “informal warning” on paper. Pure retaliation and intimidating tactics.
I truly believed in OTF when I began and all that has happened as genuinely broken my heart. I was so excited. Now? It's pure dread. This is just another corporation who is guilty of severely abusing their workers and won't change until their coaches and clients step up and demand better treatment for coaches.
My head is throbbing from dealing with this all day. You all stay safe and CYA – literally, especially at OTF.