Exercise franchise Planet Fitness saw a steep drop in its Wall Street valuation this week after a bout of polarizing publicity.
Planet Fitness member Patricia Silva took to social media to report that her membership had been revoked after an incident in which she allegedly reported the presence of a “man in [the] women’s locker room shaving.”
Silva added that while this was occurring, there was also “a little girl sitting in the corner. She could have been [12 years old] … in a towel kind of freaked out.”
In the video she posted, Silva said, “I was offended. I took a picture of him.” When confronted, the man told her he was “queer,” according to Silva’s video.
When she reported the incident, management allegedly cited the gym’s policy against photographing others and revoked her membership.
In a statement following Silva’s social media post, Planet Fitness said that club members are allowed to use the locker room that matches their gender identity.
“Our gender identity non-discrimination policy states that members and guests may use the facilities that best align with the sincere, self-reported gender identity,” the gym said in a statement.
However, the statement continues, “If it is confirmed that a member is acting in bad faith and improperly asserts a gender identity, they may be asked to leave and their membership may be terminated.”
Tuesday, in the aftermath of the viral post, Planet Fitness saw its stock fall to $56.46. It had been trading as high as $66.92 just two weeks ago.
The company was sued in 2015 by a Michigan woman who also said she had her membership terminated after complaining about a transgender woman, but a judge ruled in favor of Planet Fitness in that case.