‘Illegal’: Employment lawyer reacts to firing of 500 GoodLife Fitness trainers

Fitness trainers fired by email

GoodLife Fitness has fired 480 fitness instructors from 189 clubs across Canada, the company has confirmed. Many had spent at least a decade working for the health club.

In an email to Global News, Chief Operating Officer Jason Sheridan said that the company “made the difficult decision to end (their) employment” and that COVID-19 pandemic restrictions “have been hard on the entire fitness industry and especially hard on group activities.”

Employees were terminated via email on March 2, the same day the company posted about a ‘Personal Training National Career Webinar’ on their social media.

Global News spoke to Jon Pinkus, an employment lawyer in Toronto and partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, about the layoffs, as well as claims by affected employees that they were offered either little or no severance pay at all.

“Severance pay for non-unionized GoodLife Fitness employees could be up to 24 months’ pay and benefits, depending on their age, position and amount of time they worked for the company,” said Pinkus.

He said that employees who are not paid the proper amount of severance have been wrongfully dismissed and can file a legal claim.

GoodLife’s alleged ‘voluntary resignation’ claim is illegal

Some employees allege that GoodLife Fitness gave them a 10-day window to respond to their termination email; those who failed to respond would be considered by the company to have “voluntarily resigned” and therefore not eligible for a severance package.

“This approach is illegal,” says Pinkus. “If GoodLife Fitness has already fired these employees, they can’t “resign” if they do not respond to the company’s email. An employee hasn’t resigned from their employment unless they voluntarily express an intention to do so, and they haven’t been forced to make that decision.”

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“That being said, different considerations apply if an employee is offered an alternative position. Those who are offered alternative positions should respond to at least acknowledge the communications while the alternative positions are being considered.”

Pinkus told Global News that “employees have a right to review their legal options after being let go,” and they have two years after termination to pursue severance.

“They should absolutely talk to an employment lawyer right away.”

Samfiru Tumarkin LLP is speaking to many GoodLife Fitness employees who have lost their job due to the pandemic. Fill out an online form or call the firm immediately at 1-855-821-5900 to find out how much you may be owed.