Elura NanosMay 6th, 2021, 12:29 pm
The Connecticut Supreme Court grappled with questions of sex, religion, objectification, modesty, and exercise during oral arguments Wednesday in a case challenging “women-only” workout areas at private health clubs.
The Connecticut Commission on Human Rights & Opportunities (CHRO) sued two Connecticut gyms, Edge Fitness and Club Fitness, for sex discrimination against men. The CHRO alleged that the women-only sections in fitness facilities are illegal under the state’s non-discrimination law.
Connecticut’s public accommodations law, like many similar statutes elsewhere, declares it unlawful to “deny any person . . . full and equal accommodations in any place of public accommodation . . . because of . . . sex . . . [or] to discriminate, segregate or separate on account of . . . sex.” The law provides some exceptions for bathrooms and locker rooms, but the CHRO argues that those exceptions are not applicable special workout areas.
Jackson Lewis attorneys will appear in Connecticut Supreme Court on Wednesday, facing off against the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, and will argue that women-only workout areas in gyms do not violate state anti-discrimination law.