A man is suing Planet Fitness — his former place of employment — for discrimination due to injuries he received while serving in the United States Army.
The Toledo Blade reported Wednesday that Connor Ryan, who says he was denied a chance to return to work after deployment, has filed a lawsuit claiming he was treated differently due to his perceived disabling condition.
“Although Ryan made a substantial commitment to service his country, after sustaining a physical impairment during his service, Planet Fitness refused to return him to work in violation of state and federal laws,” said Daniel Dubow, Ryan’s attorney. “Ryan and our firm will continue to fight to ensure that employers do not take advantage of individuals because they have served our country and have suffered physical impairments through their service.”
Ryan worked at a Planet Fitness on 2630 W. Laskey Road in Toledo, Ohio, from Nov. 2017 until May 2018. He was deployed in late May 2018, suffered a broken hip and was honorably discharged from the Army on Sept. 6, 2018.
The lawsuit states that Ryan’s hip injury didn’t take away his ability to perform the duties of the member services representative position at Planet Fitness.
Therefore, four days after he was discharged, Ryan attempted to return to work under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. He says Planet Fitness’ regional matter told him he’d be rehired if he provided discharge records, but he was informed no Feb. 9, 2019 that he wouldn’t be rehired.
“We believe this lawsuit is without merit,” Planet Fitness spokesman McCall Gosselin told the Toledo Blade, noting the company can’t comment further.
