Woman hits back at ‘sexist’ gym over her tiny shorts

A woman who was pulled aside by a gym owner and told to put “longer shorts or pants on” has hit back saying it’s a sexist rule.

Welcome to Sisters In Law, news.com.au’s weekly column solving all of your legal problems. This week, our resident lawyers and real-life sisters Alison and Jillian Barrett from Maurice Blackburn tackle your legal rights when it comes to being told what to wear in public places.

QUESTION: I’ve got a query about what is deemed as “inappropriate” for wearing at gyms and other similar public places. I was recently working out at a small, family-owned gym when the owner took me aside and asked if I could put “longer shorts or pants on”. My shorts weren’t what I would call hot pants, they were more like short bike shorts and I had a singlet on my top half. The gym has really bad airconditioning and I was working up a sweat so thought the outfit was completely appropriate. I felt taken aback when the owner asked me to change, especially as lots of men work out in muscle tops where you can easily see their nipples. Embarrassed, I left and haven’t been back. I’ve got a 12-month contract with the gym that doesn’t expire until February and I’m not sure what to do. Are they allowed to ask me to wear something different in that situation? What are my rights if I want to cancel my membership? – Lisa, 23, WA

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Gym outfits have become a contentious issues. Picture: iStock

ANSWER: Lisa, this would have been a very frustrating interaction and continuing to fork out money for a service you aren’t using would no doubt make things far worse.

It sounds like you are concerned that the men in the gym were being treated differently to you when it came to their workout gear.

Gyms, like most premises, have the right to set reasonable dress codes and standards of behaviour and expect their members to abide by them. They can ask a member to change their behaviour if they are breaching the rules.

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The enforceability of any rules such as dress codes are subject to the rules not breaching anti-discrimination laws.

The Sex Discrimination Act is federal law which makes it illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of a number of things, one of these is gender. Each state has a similar law and, in WA, it is the Equal Opportunity Act 1984.

The law states that refusing service or treating someone less favourably because they are a woman is unlawful.

So in your case, any dress codes will only be lawful if they are applied uniformly to everyone, men and women alike.

If the gym wanted to enforce their dress code, they would have been required to make the code very clear to you either upon entering the gym or in the contract when you joined the gym.

As you can appreciate, a rule like “footwear must be worn at all times” is fairly uncontroversial and likely in place for safety reasons.

We expect the gym wouldn’t have a rule specifically stating no ‘hot pants’ allowed. It would be more like “clothing should be modest and not offensive in any way”.

This sort of dress code is very subjective, with very different opinions about what may be modest or offensive.

It can be difficult to know what to do if you find yourself in the situation you were in and asked to change your outfit.

You had every right to the question the gym owner. You could have asked to be shown the dress code, for more information about why you were breaching the code, pointing out others in the gym who may have also been dressed in a similar fashion and politely explaining that you consider their assertion was wrong and unlawful.

You can consider lodging a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Commission which must be lodged within 12 months of when the incident took place.

There will usually be a conciliation conference where the parties discuss the complaint with an impartial person and attempt to resolve the dispute.

Outcomes can include an apology, monetary compensation, or in your case potentially a refund of your gym membership as access to the goods or service was being denied.

If a complaint is not resolved at conciliation you can take the complaint further, to the relevant State Administrative Tribunal or to the Federal Court, who will hear the matter and make a decision.

The best way to cancel your gym membership is to approach the owner and be really open about why you wish to cancel. If this doesn’t work it is contract law that applies.

In signing up for the gym you probably would have signed a contract and the reality is most of us do not read the fine print.

It is often in the fine print that makes it really tricky to cancel a membership like this without financial penalty.

Contracts like a gym membership will usually allow you to terminate the service early if certain conditions are met.

Locate a copy of the contract and look at what these conditions are and what penalties you might incur for doing so.

You’ll likely discover that things like moving house, finding a better deal elsewhere or changing your mind will not be sufficient reasons to terminate the contract early.

Gyms, like most premises, have the right to set reasonable dress codes and standards of behaviour and expect their members to abide by them. Picture: iStock

The Australian Consumer Law does say that if the service you are being provided is problematic and it can’t be ‘fixed’ by the gym within a reasonable time, you can cancel the contract if you can show:

You were provided an unacceptable level of care and skill; or

The service was unfit for the purpose you requested.

The gym needs to be given the opportunity to fix the problem first, so for example, the owner may wish to apologise and try and repair the relationship with you.

On the limited information we have it seems you likely have the right to stand your ground and say that your relationship with the gym cannot be repaired and you should be entitled to end the contract early with no penalty.

We wish you well in your fight to stand up against this sort of behaviour.

This legal information is general in nature and should not be regarded as specific legal advice or relied upon. Persons requiring particular legal advice should consult a solicitor.

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