Compliance Stuff

Our Consumer Protection/FTC Team examines how the FTC continues to actively pursue companies with allegedly complicated cancellation practices by relying on existing legal authority despite setbacks to the Click-to-Cancel Rule. The FTC alleges that gyms used complex and misleading methods to hinder membership cancellations Consumers allegedly faced obstacles to cancellation in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act and Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act Even after the Click-to-Cancel Rule was struck down, the FTC can impose substantial penalties and remains committed to enforcing simple cancellation mechanisms for online services On August 20, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)  announced  it had brought a  complaint  against Fitness International LLC and Fitness & Sports Clubs LLC, which operate LA Fitness and other national gym chains. The complaint, brought in the Northern District of California, alleges that the companies used unclear and complicat...

  Based on a real lawsuit. Names have been changed to protect the innocent. Facts may not be 100 percent accurate. Please provide your two cents in the comments! PART ONE: Imagine you're the boss. You run a fast-food franchise, Flippin' Burgers. You hire Gwendolyn to be a first-shift manager at one of your restaurants.  You have a policy that says employees, including management, will receive progressive discipline for being absent without proper notification. In non-emergency situations, they are required to call in before the start of their shifts. Gwendolyn is out one day and fails to call in as required by the policy. Per the policy, you counsel her about the need to provide timely notice of her absences. WHEN GWENDOLYN NO-SHOWED, YOU HAD TO GET BY WITH A SKELETON CREW. A little while later, she does it again. This time you amp it up to a written warning and say that failure to comply in the future could result in "disciplinary action, up to and including discharge....