Facts

Christynne Wood had been a regular, dues-paying gym member for several years when CFG Jamacha took over the subject location in 2014. Between 2014 and early-to-mid 2017, the Crunch Fitness facility, located in El Cajon, California, was owned and operated by CFG Jamacha, LLC; John Romeo was a member of CFG Jamacha. Although ownership and management of the fitness facility changed in 2014, CFG Jamacha kept many of the prior facility's employees and most of the membership, including Wood, transferred their memberships to Crunch Fitness. Wood regularly attended the water aerobic exercise classes, and continued to do so after she transferred her gym membership in 2014.

In 2016, she began transitioning to female and told management and the employees about her decision. She continued to use the men's locker room, but soon after she began her transition, in September 2016, she claimed she was harassed by a member in the men's general locker room. Reporting the incident to management, she asked how she could get access to the women's facilities and was told that she would need to present the gym with a doctor's verification of her transitioning. A few weeks later, around September's end, she provided the letter which stated that Wood was receiving gender-affirming medical treatment and was in the process of legally changing her name and gender. In the beginning of October, Romeo told Wood that she could begin to use the men's platinum locker room and to use the men's platinum facilities. He indicated that that locker room was less frequented. With limited options, Wood reluctantly began to use the platinum facilities. In February of the following year, Wood legally changed her name and her gender to female. Shortly thereafter, she called Crunch Fitness and informed them of the changes and that she would go by to retake her photo and update her personal information. When she did so, she asked to use the female locker room and restroom, but Wood alleges that the assistant general manager indicated that she needed to complete the "sex-reassignment surgery" before they would allow her to do so. Wood thereafter continued to use the platinum men's facilities. On September 12, 2017, a male member allegedly entered the locker room, and uttered an obscenity towards Wood. She notified management about the incident and she was finally able to use the women's facilities and restroom.

DFEH initiated the lawsuit in April 2018, and Wood intervened in June 2018. Both DFEH and Wood sought civil penalties against CFG Jamacha and Romeo, individually, in the amount of nearly $300,000, or $4,000 for each time Wood went to the gym after February 24, 2017, and until Wood was granted access to the female locker room facilities. Wood also sought unspecified general and special damages for her alleged personal and emotional injury.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Both DFEH and Wood alleged that defendants, including Crunch Fitness and John Romero, violated the Unruh Act. The refusals to give Wood access to the women's facilities were clear violations of California's Unruh Civil Rights Act that bans discrimination based on "a person's gender identity and gender expression." It goes on to define gender expression as "a person's gender-related appearance and behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the person's assigned sex at birth." Wood further asserted causes of action for general negligence and negligent supervision, hiring, training and/or retention. She asserted that defendants were aware or should have been aware that their employees were denying her full and equal access to the female restrooms and locker rooms and failed to adequately protect her against harassment. Furthermore, defendants' failure to supervise and train their employees was the proximate cause of her personal injury and emotional distress.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS: Defendants denied all allegations levied against them. Defendants contend that they tried to work out a solution involving a very sensitive and novel issue by offering the more private and exclusive locker room access to Wood without a fee, while simultaneously considering the rights and concerns of their nearly 4000 other female members. Defendants further contend that the offer of access to the male platinum facilities does not amount to a denial of access to certain facilities, and the Unruh Act does not require CFG Jamacha grant Wood access to the locker room facilities based on the sex with which she identifies. Although the Legislature has specifically made such declarations in the employment and education contexts, the only declaration the Legislature has made with respect to private businesses open to the public concerns single stall restrooms. The California Legislature has not addressed transgender access to intimate facilities such as locker rooms in public accommodations, nor has any California court provided guidance or direction to business owners.
The Unruh Act prohibits business owners from intentionally and arbitrarily denying a person full and equal access to public accommodations based on a protected characteristic. Defendants contended their maintenance of sex-segregated locker rooms was neutral on its face, and there was no evidence of animus or invidious discrimination on the part of CFG Jamacha or Romeo to support a finding of intentional and arbitrary conduct.
Defendants also contend that DFEH's investigation into Wood's claims of discrimination was motivated by political pressure and DFEH failed to comply with its own regulations resulting in the denial of access to basic factual information and evidence. Although DFEH repeatedly advised CFG Jamacha and Romeo that it "serves as a neutral fact-finder and represents the State of California rather than the complaining party [Wood]," during its investigation, its tone changed after litigation was filed. DFEH and Wood sought to protect various communications exchanged between them during the purportedly neutral investigation under the guise of an attorney-client relationship. DFEH and Wood appealed a trial court ruling granting Defendants' access to a single email communication exchanged during the course of its purportedly neutral investigation, which resulted in the Court of Appeal holding an attorney-client relationship cannot exist as between a government attorney and a member of the public.
Defendants filed several motions relating to their contentions, including a motion to disqualify DFEH from the lawsuit, a motion to compel the depositions of DFEH attorneys and staff involved in the underlying investigation, a motion for summary judgment and a motion for summary adjudication, none of which were heard as a result of the settlement.

Result

Wood settled with the gym and Romeo for an undisclosed amount of money. Part of the settlement will include anti-discrimination and harassment training for gym employees as required by applicable anti-discrimination laws. Defendant Crunch further agreed to provide this training to all new employees within 60 days of hire, and then every two years thereafter, or as required by law. Finally, Crunch agreed to report its compliance to DFEH. DFEH is required to engage in a meet and confer process with Crunch should it deem the gym's compliance-reporting to be insufficient, with 30 days to correct any deficiency before involving the court. The court retains jurisdiction over settlement compliance for five years.

Other Information

The ACLU of Southern California, ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, and Nixon Peabody later represented Wood as real party in interest / plaintiff-intervenor in the case initially filed by DFEH.