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Curves for Women Being Sued for More than $20 Million
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(04/05/05) Six Plaintiffs from the U.S. and Canada are suing Gary Heavin, Curves founder and CEO, and Roger Schmidt, the company attorney. Plaintiffs allege that they quit their jobs, mortgaged their homes, maxed out their credit cards and slept in their cars to help Heavin launch Curves, but that Heavin never didn't fulfill on promises.
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April 4, 2005 Waco, TX -- John F. Kennedy's phrase, " Success has a thousand fathers, but failure dies an orphan," is true in the health club industry. Plaintiffs allegedly contributing to the early success of Curves for Women now want their due and are suing for $20 Million.
"Unfortunately, when you become a company of our size, you become a target for frivolous lawsuits."
-- Becky Frusher, Spokeswoman for Curves
The plaintiffs are suing both Gary Heavin, Curves founder and CEO, and Roger Schmidt, the company attorney. In the lawsuit, they allege that they quit their jobs, mortgaged their homes, maxed out their credit cards and slept in their cars to help Heavin launch Curves, which has become the world's number one fitness center in terms of the number of clubs.
For taking a risk and investing their own time and money, they claim that they were promised a share in the profits once the chain became a success. They claim they never received the originally agreed upon amounts.
Becky Frusher, spokeswoman for Curves, said the lawsuit is baseless. "Unfortunately, when you become a company of our size, you become a target for frivolous lawsuits."
The plaintiffs signed a different agreement with Heaven three years ago, but the discussions to resolve the dispute weren't successful, and it became necessary to go to court, said Richard Yeomans, the Austin attorney who represented the plaintiffs.
Plaintiffs include San Hance, Don Buster and Robert Findley of Texas; Charles Cunningham of Tennessee; Cathy Reardon of Iowa; David Mesmer of New York; and Darrel Payne of Canada.
Gary Heavin has enjoyed great financial success with the franchise business. Both he and his wife, Diane, have donated millions to charities and other causes, including $5 million in September 2003 to the Family Practice Center, McLennan County Texas Abstinence Project and the Care Net Pregnancy Center.
About Curves
Since the mid-1990s, Curves has grown to more than 8,400 franchises in all 50 states and 28 countries. One in every four fitness clubs in the United States is a Curves. By comparison, Gold's Gyms and Bally Total Fitness have about 1,000 facilities between them.
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Source: Associated Press
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