Gender Complaint Hits Women-Only Gym
By Barb Gormley
As if a lagging economy isn’t enough for a club owner to contend with these days.
| In 2007, John Fulton was closing a membership deal with a well-groomed middle-aged woman at his St. Catherine’s, Ont., Downtown Health Club for Women, when she paused just before signing and said, “I need to be honest with you. I’m a guy.”
The admission certainly gave Fulton pause. “I didn’t fall off my chair,” he says, recalling his response at her admission. “I said that I didn’t have a problem, but give me a chance to look into it. When you run a downtown club, you’re exposed to all kinds of situations and people.” |
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Fulton called The Human Rights Commission and the local police for advice. But within a week and before he could fully explore the relevant legal rights and obligations, he received a letter from a lawyer representing the woman (she has since completed a surgical transformation from male to female) demanding an apology and a financial settlement.
When he refused to do either of these, she lodged a human rights complaint. The Ontario Human Rights Code forbids discrimination or harassment based on sex, which includes issues of gender identity. “I’m pissed off because I’m the one who called Human Rights and the police to find out the policies,” says Fulton. “I didn’t say that she couldn’t join. I said let me do a little research.” Fulton says he has no issues with non-traditional lifestyles. For 10 of the past 15 years he was the lead sponsor for St. Catherine’s AIDS Walk. “I’ve been exposed to many transgendered individuals,” he notes. An attempt at mediation before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario this past February failed.
To this point, Fulton has relied solely on his own research and ability to represent himself. But he is now in touch with a Bay Street lawyer. He feels that his reputation as a principled individual and business owner – he’s been in the fitness club business for 30 years – are on the line. “Can I really stop now?’ he asks rhetorically. “I’ve been working on this for two years. I’ll keep going even to the Supreme Court.”
Futon’s advice for other club owners reading this story? “Close your doors!” he says with a long laugh. More seriously he adds, “Keep your eyes on what’s happening with this. No one has taken an issue like this to the Tribunal level before. This will be precedent setting.”
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March 4th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Just curious - what exactly was the problem? It seems that this person put himself/herself into the situation, misrepresented himself/herself, and then demanded an apology - for what? It doesn’t appear that John Fulton did anything wrong.
Also, the name of the city is St. Catharines, not St. Catherine’s.
March 9th, 2009 at 6:29 am
I agree…This gym is for women only. She took the opportunity to ask and if the gym manager (owner) had asked her about surgery (obviously for members of the club) it would of been another legal issue. What are we suppose to do on this account? I find this completely ridiculous. The owner did take the correct steps for the sake of his club! I would not appreciate having a female with male genders in my locker room either! What are my rights when I signed up for a female club! This owner obviously did what he can and should for the legal rights of his members.