Black woman fired after being late to work 47 times sues Equinox for discrimination–wins MILLIONS

Equinox claims she was fired for being late 47 times over 10 months, a fact that Europe acknowledged as true.

According to the New York Times, Europe believed "her lateness was merely a pretext for discrimination."

According to the New York Times, as a teen Europe had "experienced the coded bias of privileged teenagers" because she went to the elite New York all-girls school Brearley on scholarship.

After her teenage years, Europe spent time as a professional body-builder, then studied art at Oberlin College, and then worked at David Barton gym in their office to help support an apprenticeship in tattooing. Europe finally landed at Equinox in 2018 where she worked less than a year.

According to the New York Times, Europe had noted that the management structure was predominantly male and white and while at Equinox, Europe experienced "unfiltered expressions of prejudice from male colleagues" such as one "middle-aged white male" who, according to Europe, said one black co-worker had autism and that several non-white employees were "lazy."

Europe claimed that the same man, who also had "vulgar takes on black female bodies," commanded she wait with him outside the gym on one occasion because he wanted to flirt with a black woman at a cafe. Europe said it was "on the theory that he would be better positioned with a Black person standing next to him."

Europe said she "refused to be a racial pawn."

Europe also recounted how one client called and specifically asked for a white trainer. She did not speak to the client directly but said she heard about the request from another employee. According to Europe, she told the employee that such a request exposed the company to liability and she had to pass the request along to a supervisor. The New York Times reported that a supervisor ultimately granted the client's request for a white trainer, but was later reprimanded and fired.

Europe said these incidents were so stressful that it made her bulimia worse, so she went to the law firm Crumiller, a "feminist litigation firm" as they describe themselves.

Ultimately, Europe was awarded $1.25 million for distress and $10 million in punitive damages.

According to the New York Times, the verdict follows "a pattern similar to the verdict reached in the same courthouse just a few weeks before, in E. Jean Carroll’s defamation suit against Donald J. Trump" as "In both instances, the process and outcome suggest the ways in which recent transformative social movements around race and gender might reframe the way that juries think about the long shadow of emotional disruption that bigotry or sexual violence can produce."

Rather than "engag[ing] in the current fashion for self-reproach and vow[ing] to do better," Equinox instead "vehemently disagreed" and filed a motion for the court to reconsider its decision, per the New York Times.