Steam room sex assault vics can reach out to Equinox workers, New York appeals court says
The decision is believed to be the first of its kind in a civil case, said Marc Held, an attorney for the victims.
Equinox ran to court after Held sent letters to 71 Equinox employees in December 2022 about the now long-running lawsuit, in which 11 people claimed they were 'sexually assaulted, attacked [or subjected to] indecent exposure' in the popular gym chain's steam rooms — and that management knew and did nothing to stop it.
Advertisement
The company claimed Held should have warned the workers that whatever they said about the alleged sexual assaults could hurt Equinox, and that they should speak with an attorney.
Nearly a dozen victims sued Equinox, claiming the gym chain knew its steam rooms were hotbeds of sexual assault.
UnitedPhotoStudio – stock.adobe.com
A judge in the Brooklyn case agreed, deciding in April 2023 that Held should have included the legal caution in his brief letter.
Advertisement
Held appealed, and this week the Second Judicial Department of the state appeals court reversed the earlier ruling.
Equinox has denied the allegations, which date back to at least 2018.
Christopher Sadowski
'We are pleased that the Appellate Division put an end to Equinox's attempt to obstruct and silence sexual assault victims,' Held told The Post.
The 2018 case is ongoing.
Advertisement
There were so many complaints about the bad behavior that Equinox 'drafted a template response to go out to such victims,' according to court records.
Held described Equinox's bid for the legal warning as 'def-facto Miranda rights,' a reference to the description of rights typically given to someone arrested in a criminal case.
'There should be no such requirement or constraints in a civil case,' he said.
Equinox lawyers didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
3 days ago
- New York Post
Steam room sex assault vics can reach out to Equinox workers, New York appeals court says
A state appeals court has cleared the way for lawyers of those who say they were sexually assaulted inside steam rooms at Equinox gyms to find and contact possible witnesses. The decision is believed to be the first of its kind in a civil case, said Marc Held, an attorney for the victims. Equinox ran to court after Held sent letters to 71 Equinox employees in December 2022 about the now long-running lawsuit, in which 11 people claimed they were 'sexually assaulted, attacked [or subjected to] indecent exposure' in the popular gym chain's steam rooms — and that management knew and did nothing to stop it. Advertisement The company claimed Held should have warned the workers that whatever they said about the alleged sexual assaults could hurt Equinox, and that they should speak with an attorney. Nearly a dozen victims sued Equinox, claiming the gym chain knew its steam rooms were hotbeds of sexual assault. UnitedPhotoStudio – A judge in the Brooklyn case agreed, deciding in April 2023 that Held should have included the legal caution in his brief letter. Advertisement Held appealed, and this week the Second Judicial Department of the state appeals court reversed the earlier ruling. Equinox has denied the allegations, which date back to at least 2018. Christopher Sadowski 'We are pleased that the Appellate Division put an end to Equinox's attempt to obstruct and silence sexual assault victims,' Held told The Post. The 2018 case is ongoing. Advertisement There were so many complaints about the bad behavior that Equinox 'drafted a template response to go out to such victims,' according to court records. Held described Equinox's bid for the legal warning as 'def-facto Miranda rights,' a reference to the description of rights typically given to someone arrested in a criminal case. 'There should be no such requirement or constraints in a civil case,' he said. Equinox lawyers didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
New York Post
3 days ago
- New York Post
Hamas releases chilling video of ‘living skeleton' hostage Evyatar David : ‘Few days left to live'
The family of Hamas-held hostage Evyatar David – a 'living skeleton' – believe he has just 'a few days left to live' – as negotiations for the freeing of all remaining Israeli captives continue to stall In a new propaganda video released by the terror group, David, 24, is seen in a tunnel with a ceiling roughly as high as he is tall, crossing off dates on a calendar and digging what he says he fears is his own grave. 'I haven't eaten for a few days in a row,' David says in the footage. The video shows David digging inside a tunnel. Hamas / Hostages and Missing Families Forum David's family believe he just has a few days left to live. Hamas / Hostages and Missing Families Forum In the middle of the video, the person behind the camera hands him a can of beans. 'This can is for two days. This whole can is for two days so that I don't die,' David says. 'This is the grave I think I'm going to be buried in,' he goes on. 'Time is running out. You are the only ones who can end this,' David said in the propaganda video aimed at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. before being interspliced with clips of starving Palestinian children. 'We are forced to witness our beloved son and brother, Evyatar David, deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas's tunnels in Gaza – a living skeleton, buried alive,' the David family said in a statement sent to the Hostages Families Forum Headquarters. 'The deliberate starvation of our son as part of a propaganda campaign is one of the most horrifying acts the world has seen.' This is the second hostage video released by the terror group this week. On Thursday, chilling footage showed Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski ghostly and frail as he cried during the six-minute video. Both were kidnapped during a music festival during the October 7 terror attack and are among the remaining 20 hostages believed to still be alive. 'They are on the absolute brink of death,' brother Ilay David said Saturday, speaking in English before a crowd of thousands at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, as thousands of protesters gathered for their weekly demonstrations to call for the release of the hostages. David called on President Trump to bring about the hostages' release 'by any means necessary.' 'To remain silent now is to be complicit in their slow agonizing death,' he said. US special envoy Steve Witkoff, meanwhile, told Israeli hostages' families in a meeting in Tel Aviv Saturday, that he had no news of progress in talks with Hamas, according to Hebrew media. 'I hear your frustration. But the situation is complicated. There are many reasons [for this] that I cannot detail,' Witkoff said, also emphasizing to the families that President Trump's mission is to bring everyone home. 'We now need to bring all of them home. We are very close to ending the war,' he said, according to the statement. 'We have a plan to end the war and bring everyone home.' 'No piecemeal deals,' Witkoff said. 'That doesn't work. And we've tried everything.' a comprehensive Gaza ceasefire-hostage agreement and would no longer seek 'piecemeal deals,'and is opposed to expanding the fighting in Gaza. The effort was complicated, he said, but he believed it would ultimately succeed. The terror group later vowed not to disarm 'as long as the occupation exists' and until there is a fully sovereign Palestinian state. Israel could announce a plan to annex parts of the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas to accept a cease-fire deal, according to a cabinet minister.
CBS News
7 days ago
- CBS News
Man charged after postal worker stabbed in Miami road rage incident, police say
A 27-year-old man has been charged with aggravated battery and weapon use in a felony after allegedly stabbing a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier during a road rage incident, according to the Miami Police Department. On July 21 at approximately 2:43 p.m., Biscayne Park police responded to reports of a mailman stabbed in the 11700 block of NE 10th Avenue. Officers arrived to find the victim, a 60-year-old USPS employee, in uniform and bleeding from a stab wound to the chest while parked in his mail truck. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue transported the victim to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center for treatment. His current condition has not been released. Officers located the suspect, identified as Valentino Jlil, near the scene, holding a knife and bleeding from a cut on his finger. He was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Biscayne Park Police Department, where he gave a sworn, taped statement after being read his Miranda rights. According to investigators, the confrontation began when the mail carrier inadvertently failed to yield to Jlil, who was riding an electric scooter. Police say Jlil became angry, blocked the mail truck, and initiated a verbal and physical altercation that escalated into violence. Jlil faces charges of felony aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and use of a weapon while committing a felony, police said.
