Planet Fitness settles suit with Joburg gym bunny

11 August 2014 - 02:00 By Roxanne Henderson
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Image: Gallo Images/Thinkstock

Johannesburg beauty therapist Lubov Kovtun-Caine walked into gym fit and healthy, but left in an ambulance, with an injury she claims left her partially disabled.

The Russian-born woman has now won a victory against the Planet Fitness health club group, which paid her an undisclosed settlement after she took it to court.

In 2011, Kovtun-Caine, 59, slipped on mats at the gym's Wanderers branch in Illovo, fracturing her right femur.

She needed surgery, leading to two weeks in bed and a slow and painful recovery.

She headed to the Johannesburg High Court last year, where she sued Planet Fitness for over R540000 in damages, saying the incident had left her with "certain disabilities".

Kovtun-Caine, who lives in Elton Hill, Johannesburg, accused the gym of negligence, saying water had seeped under the mats, "causing them to slide".

Planet Fitness denied negligence, saying its gym was "reasonably safe" and cited the disclaimer at the entrance, saying anyone who entered the premises did so at their "own risk".

It also said her fall was due to her own negligence, because she "failed to keep a proper look- out".

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