Viking Fitness Center lawsuit settled out of court
A settlement has been reached in the four lawsuits filed by women who said they were photographed while tanning at Viking Fitness Center.
St. Clair County Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Lane signed an order dismissing all four lawsuits on Sept. 18, citing the settlement.
Details on the agreement reached between the plaintiffs and Viking Fitness Center were not available, as records regarding the settlement negotiation were sealed in each of the court files.
St. Clair County Board Chairman Jeffrey Bohm, who owns Viking Fitness Center, said the settlement was negotiated by his insurance agency and he did not know the details of the agreement they reached. He said he was not asked to admit wrongdoing or make changes to his business as part of the agreement.
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The first lawsuit was filed in early November, while the other three were filed two weeks after. Each of the four women, who are all identified as “Jane Doe” in court records, said they were using a tanning bed at Viking Fitness Center when Corey Normandin, a member of the gym, opened the tanning bed and took nude photos of them without their permission.
Normandin was sentenced to prison in March 2023 for multiple felonies based on his actions. He will not be eligible for parole until February 2028.
In their lawsuits, the women argued Viking Fitness Center failed to protect them, saying Normandin should not have been able to access the tanning beds in the first place.
“Despite the complaint and determining Normandin was the person who attempted to gain access to the female member while in the tanning machine, the Defendant took no action against Normandin of any kind, and Normandin continued to have full access to the health club,” the complaint in the first lawsuit states.
Bohm had argued through his attorney that the blame lies exclusively with Normandin.
A key point of disagreement between the two sides was when Normandin’s actions were first reported to Viking Fitness Center.
Bohm maintained that the first his business heard of Normandin’s actions was in August 2022 and that as soon as his staff learned what had happened they contacted law enforcement and revoked Normandin’s gym membership.
One of the defendants, however, said Normandin photographed her in June 2022, two months before the other victims. The lawsuit argued that if the gym had acted after the first incident, the others could have been prevented. The plaintiff’s stated the police report included an interview with a staff member at the gym who said the first incident happened in June.
Elizabeth Thomson and Justin Morgan, the attorneys for the plaintiffs, did not respond to a request for comment on the settlement.
Contact Johnathan Hogan at jhogan@gannett.com.
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