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Pregnant woman says gym asked her to leave because of her belly

Planet Fitness denies allegation
By Rick Couri
April 25, 2014

At 18 weeks pregnant, Melissa Mantor was beginning to show a small belly. But she never expected what happened when she went to exercise at her gym.

"I was on the treadmill for about 10 minutes before I was approached by a girl who came up to me telling me that she is going to have to ask me to leave," Mantor told ABC 4 in Charleston, SC.

"I was very confused by this and thought I may have heard her wrong,” she continued. “She told me again that I am not able to continue my workout until I change my clothes because I am in violation of their dress code."

The employee then handed her a T-shirt.

Planet Fitness does have a dress code, but it doesn’t say anything about bare bellies. However, it does forbid “string tank tops” like the one Melissa was wearing at the time of the incident.

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Mantor doubts that had anything to do with it since she has worn others like it to work out before. She’s even wearing one in the picture used on her membership card.

The company released a statement saying, "this particular location also had a stated policy that prohibited bare midriffs. In this instance, a staff member approached the member to inform her of the policy and offer her a free t-shirt to complete her workout. She was not asked to leave the gym as a result of her attire." 

Mentor canceled her membership, but even that was uncomfortable. 
"When I went into the gym to cancel my membership, my account must have been flagged,” she began. “The girl filling out my cancellation form told me that she was told by her boss to remind me that I was in violation of the dress code. I then showed her the picture of my gym attire. She started asking more questions, causing a scene in front of two other patrons and two employees, so I walked away." 
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Rick Couri

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