A Frisco woman is suing Planet Fitness for more than $1 million after she says a hidden camera secretly recorded her nude inside a tanning bed room at the gym's Preston Road location, and she says staff never warned members a man had already been arrested in connection with the device.
Lawsuit Targets Local Franchisee, Not Just the Brand
The civil suit, filed Tuesday in Collin County District Court, names Excel Fitness Holdings, LLC and Excel Fitness DFW 21, LLC — the franchisee entities that own and operate the Planet Fitness at 6951 Preston Road in Frisco — as defendants, according to WFAA. The plaintiff claims the franchisee failed to take reasonable security measures to protect members in private spaces like tanning rooms and changing areas, the station reports.
Frisco Police Department detectives reached out to the woman in August after recovering hidden camera footage that showed her and multiple other female members nude inside private tanning bed rooms, according to CBS News, which also reported the lawsuit. Detectives confirmed to her that a male member had been arrested in connection with the recordings, though police have kept the suspect's identity confidential since the arrest, the outlet notes.
Attorney Points to a Pattern Across Seven States
Court filings from the plaintiff's attorney, Rogge Dunn, allege that hidden cameras and secret recordings inside Planet Fitness changing and tanning rooms have impacted more than 55 women at Planet Fitness facilities over the past 14 years, with past incidents reported in Alabama, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and North Dakota. Those allegations could become central to the Frisco case, since Texas courts apply a strict foreseeability standard when weighing whether a business should be held liable for a third party's crime. Under the Texas Supreme Court's 1998 ruling in Timberwalk Apartments v. Cain, property owners generally aren't liable for criminal acts committed by third parties unless prior, similar crimes made the specific harm foreseeable, according to the Texas Real Estate Research Center. Courts weigh the recency, frequency and similarity of past incidents in making that determination.
A similar case emerged just months earlier: in May, a lawsuit was filed against Planet Fitness in California after a male member secretly recorded nearly 50 unclothed women inside tanning booths at an Arroyo Grande location, according to Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos, LLP, which notes criminal charges were also filed against the perpetrator in that case. The allegations echo a 2014 class-action suit against franchisor Pla-Fit LLC and an Illinois franchisee after hidden cameras were discovered in a Moline, Illinois Planet Fitness tanning area; that earlier case alleged the company failed to require routine privacy inspections of private rooms, per Business Wire reporting on the matter.
Texas Law Treats Secret Recording as a Felony
Under Texas Penal Code § 21.15, capturing, recording or broadcasting intimate images of someone without consent in an intimate area, bathroom or changing room can be a state jail felony, according to the Law Offices of Tim Powers. State jail felonies in Texas carry sentences ranging from 180 days to two years, along with fines up to $10,000. Texas courts have shown willingness to impose serious penalties in similar voyeurism cases — in September, a former hospital manager in Montgomery County was sentenced to four years in state jail after pleading guilty to seven felony counts of invasive visual recording for hiding cameras in employee restrooms, as Hoodline reported.
The plaintiff told CBS News that visiting the Frisco gym in person to cancel her membership, as required by company policy, was emotionally distressing because staff had not informed members about the hidden camera investigation or the arrest. Planet Fitness generally requires members to cancel in person or by certified mail, the outlet notes, a policy that added to her frustration after learning about the camera from police rather than the gym itself.
A Fast-Growing Texas Franchisee Now Facing Scrutiny
Excel Fitness Holdings, the franchisee named in the suit, was recognized as Planet Fitness's Franchisee of the Year in 2019 and operates more than 180 gym locations across Texas, Oklahoma and seven other states, according to prior Hoodline reporting on the Austin-based operator's continued expansion in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. It remains unknown whether franchisor Pla-Fit LLC will be named as a co-defendant, how many victims total were captured on the seized recordings, or whether Frisco Police will publicly identify the arrested member.
