
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, September 19, 1995                   TAG: 9509190056
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

HEALTH CLUB'S SITE OF SUITS SORT OF SETTLED

A Roanoke health club that chose a distant venue to file lawsuits seeking unpaid dues from former members may have to reimburse them up to $60,000 under the terms of a tentative settlement reached Monday.

Former members of New Fitness had contended in a class-action lawsuit that the club put them in an unfair position when it sought judgments against them in Chesapeake courts.

Had the suits been brought in Roanoke, an estimated 350 former members might have been able to better defend themselves, according to David Beidler, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Roanoke Valley who filed the suit.

In a tentative settlement reached Monday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, Judge Sam Wilson set a Dec. 11 hearing, at which time the Chesapeake judgments against New Fitness members would be declared void, Beidler said.

If that happens, he said, New Fitness would be required to refund up to $60,000 collected on the judgments.

But the fitness club - which did not admit liability as part of the tentative settlement - could still seek to recover the money by filing suit in Roanoke. A Norfolk attorney who represents the club said Monday that no decision has been made on whether to refile the suits.

The class-action lawsuit, filed in March under the names of two former health club members, claimed that the two Roanoke New Fitness clubs and a credit agency used deceptive practices and fraud to collect on unpaid memberships.

Former members of the club who were sued in Chesapeake may be eligible to join in the class-action lawsuit and receive a refund. Beidler said they should contact the Legal Aid Society for more information.

by CNB