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Dear Life Time Fitness in St. Louis Park, MN:

On behalf of all your paying female members, I hope you will consider finding space for building a “Women’s EXECUTIVE Locker Room” at your St. Louis Park location. I might have missed it while walking around your entire facility trying to find the executive space for women, and if that is the case, I apologize in advance. (See pictures)

I believe your female members would like access to an executive space, and we deserve it as we pay the same monthly membership dues as the men. I know you are a private company and not subject to the Title IX gender equity law, and therefore are not legally required to provide equally “luxurious locker rooms” for women as for men (as your website promises in “How Life Time is Different“). I will suggest that indeed you are different, but not in the way your website is promoting, in that you are discriminating against your female members.

Given that a large majority of your members are female, and your company makes a LOT of money by selling health and wellness to women, it would be the right thing to do to provide us with an Executive Locker Room. I know you aren’t the only private entity to discriminate against women or to have sexist practices - elite golf clubs like Augusta National have been providing male-only access to spaces, or better quality male spaces, for a long time.

I just thought that since you are a Minnesota-based company that you could do better, since Minnesota has a long tradition of being a leader in equality issues. By considering my suggestion, you would be living up to your mission of being “An innovator: Staying ahead of the curve keeps members inspired to live healthier, happier lives”. In addition, many of the students I teach in the School of Kinesiology here at the University of Minnesota go on to work in your clubs and I am also concerned what message your discriminatory locker room issue is sending to them, as well as all of your members – that men are more valued as customers and therefore get better, more luxurious, executive space.

I would be happy to speak with you directly about this issue.

Respectfully Submitted,

Nicole M. LaVoi, LIFE TIME member

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• SportsPLUS
• Health & Fitness
• Discrimination/Title IX
• Business

View Original Post at nicolemlavoi.com

View Dr. Nicole M. LaVoi's Full Profile

There is 1 comment on this post. Join the discussion!

anne says:

Dear Nicole LaVoi,
Before running to the internet to write a letter to Lifetime management that will probably never be seen, why don't you just ask the front desk worker where the womens executive locker room is? It is one floor above the women's main locker room.

sincerely, another female paying SLP lifeime member.

Monday, July 30, 2012 at 2:34pm EDT

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