WESTWOOD (CBSLA) – The parent company of the gym chain LA Fitness is suing the owner of the Westwood gym for reimbursement of more than $ 500,000 in rent, despite the fact that the company has been out of business for nearly a year due to coronavirus-related closures.
Fitness International LLC’s infringement suit filed Thursday in the Santa Monica Supreme Court against WW Westwood LP provides for at least $ 555,000 in damages, loss of profits, legal fees, and a judicial declaration that LA Fitness will not pay must rent during embargo periods.
The gym is located on the 10900 block on Wilshire Boulevard. According to the lawsuit, the original lease is from January 1996.
LA Fitness suspended the gym on March 17 due to a government-mandated shutdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The gym was allowed to reopen for about a month in the summer from June 12th to July 13th, and since then it has been forbidden to operate again, according to court files.
“However, for the short period of four weeks (LA Fitness) is prohibited from operating its business from the premises for nearly ten to ten months,” the lawsuit said, in which the government-mandated closings as a result of COVID -19 pandemic are “unexpected events that are completely beyond the control of (LA Fitness) and have catastrophic consequences.”
Although LA Fitness informed its landlord that its obligation to pay the rent during the lockdown periods due to government-mandated shutowns was excused, WW Westwood LP requested full payment, according to the complaint.
A representative from WW Westwood LP could not be reached immediately.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All rights reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
