The Atilis Gym was ordered to shut down on March 21 by an executive order, which designated gyms and fitnesses as non-essential businesses. The Browning Road gym reopened May 18 in defiance of the ban, “due to (its) dire and crippling financial situation,” the suit says.
Atilis Gym vs Murphy
The lawsuit asks for a federal judge to declare Gov. Murphy’s orders unconstitutional, and an injunction that would allow the Atilis Gym to keep on working.
“We’re not there yet for gyms to return,” Murphy said at a press conference last week, adding that close contact, no ventilation, in an enclosed space, “is a hard nut to crack.”
The suit rejects Murphy’s claims, saying that co-owners Ian Smith and Frank Trumbetti took all precautions needed to make it plausible – similarly to businesses that were allowed to reopen. The 14,000-square-foot gym has imposed a 20% capacity limit, as well as reconfigured the equipment in order to maintain social distancing, wear face coverings and any who enter will have to pass a temperature scan.
The suit also says that the gym is “absolutely essential” to both the health and well being of its patrons and to that of its owners and employees, arguing that business owners are denied due process because they have no way of challenging their designation as non-essential.
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