New York gyms sue the state over stalled re-openings

New York muscle factories have stepped into the ring to challenge Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s tough-guy stance.

A consortium of fitness chains in the state have filed a class-action lawsuit against Cuomo, the state Attorney General’s office, and the state itself for not being listed among the businesses allowed to re-open in the Phase 4 re-openings in Upstate New York. The suit was filed as soon as Phase 4 went into effect on Wednesday.

Fitness businesses charge that the state’s actions violate the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the 14th Amendment and the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment, according to a report in Patch. 

"Basically, they're taking away our clients' livelihood, our clients' business, for public use or public purpose, which is, according to the governor, to stop the spread of COVID," the gyms’ lawyer James Mermigis told Patch. "Therefore, pay these people. Pay the gym owners, because how are they supposed to survive?"

In the suit, New York gyms demand full compensation of all the money they lost as a result of being shut down. Also, they want to re-open immediately.

“Most of these gyms, if they don’t open within the next 30 days, they’re going to be done,” Mermigis said.