Here’s a case I just found in a New York Law Journal abstract. It has almost as many layers as a mille feuille. Well, maybe not.
Lawyer Says Fitness Club Banned Him Over Prior Suit
Employment discrimination lawyer Douglas Wigdor sued SoulCycle on Thursday for banning him, claiming the New York fitness club was retaliating against him for …
For what? Because that’s where the New York Law Journal abstract ran out.
So I did a little digging. And here’s what I found in the Daily News: Wigdor settled an employment/wages case against SoulCycle and now the club refuses to allow him to … what do people do at places like that? Sit on immobile exercise bikes and pedal away? Why are people in tears because the Tribeca “studio” is closing for renovations?
Why is this cycling place different from all other cycling places?
Why am I even asking these questions?
Anyway, apparently Wigdor − who has been validated by at least one entity as one of America’s top lawyers − has been banned from SoulCycle locations “worldwide.” Why doesn’t he buy an exercise bike of his own, plunk it in his office and pedal away? Why should he (or anybody, for that matter) require an instructor to teach him…how to sit on an immobile exercise bike and pedal away? Maybe he will buy one, after he settles this case.
Whew. Reporting on this has now exhausted me. I’ve done my pedaling (and, probably, back-pedaling) for the day.
UPDATE 4/16/2015. SoulCycle tried to get this lawsuit dismissed. Didn’t, for the most part. But I copy this abstract from the New York Law Journal here not only to keep you updated, but because–and this is the sober New York Law Journal!–take a look at the sweet, subtle pun in the caption:
A Manhattan Supreme Court judge refused to completely dismiss a lawsuit against SoulCycle, the New York-based fitness chain, filed by a lawyer who had brought a Labor Law case against the company and was then banned from using its facilities.
UPDATE MAY 27, 2016, via the New York Law Journal:
Suit by Lawyer Banned From SoulCycle Dismissed
Ben Bedell, New York Law Journal
A lawyer who sued SoulCycle for terminating his membership, alleging it was retaliation for having represented a SoulCycle employee in a wages-and-hours case against the popular workout chain, had his case dismissed Thursday by the First Department.
Proof that any big-time lawyer like Douglas Wigdor can double as a big-time fool when he is suckered by the adage, “Anybody can sue anybody at any time for anything,” forgetting the coda: “And anybody can get his case dismissed.”