A Planet Fitness member walked into a tanning room believing the locking door provided absolute privacy, unaware that a simple coin could unlatch it from the outside. That vulnerability set off a legal battle on October 6, 2026, when a female member filed a lawsuit in Collin County, Texas, seeking over $1 million in damages against operators Excel Fitness Holdings, LLC and Excel Fitness DFW 21, LLC.
The Discovery and the Texas Lawsuit
The civil action, filed under the pseudonym Jane Doe, demands a jury trial and targets systemic security failures across the nationwide fitness chain. Frisco police arrested 38-year-old Eli Phillip Rodriguez in connection with the case, but court records reveal that the invasion of privacy extended far beyond a single isolated incident. Attorney Rogge Dunn reviewed fourteen years of records and discovered at least 55 women targeted across multiple states, including Alabama, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, and North Dakota.
The lawsuit details a stark corporate failure to protect patrons. According to court documents, Planet Fitness management allegedly knew about ongoing surreptitious recording incidents but failed to notify members who used the facilities. The plaintiff learned of the breach only after receiving a call from investigators in August 2026, while the gym operators issued no warnings to safeguard other clients.
Systemic Oversight and Employee Indifference
The operational vulnerabilities span multiple locations, highlighted by an incident in Arroyo Grande, California, where 40-year-old Kyle Combs was accused of capturing more than 50 illicit images and videos of roughly 47 women throughout 2025. In May 2025, a member confronted staff immediately after spotting Combs inside her tanning enclosure. Employees laughed off her concerns and insisted the door lock functioned properly, while a subsequent incident months later involved a screaming victim and an unhindered suspect fleeing the scene. Combs ultimately faced 12 misdemeanor charges, to which he pleaded not guilty.
Investigators and legal representatives point directly to the hardware itself. The tanning rooms utilize basic privacy latches that can be opened externally with a coin or flat object, rendering the security mechanism functionally obsolete. Dunn stated in the litigation that the corporate operators prioritized profits over customer privacy by withholding knowledge of ongoing surveillance from vulnerable patrons.
Global Parallels in Fitness Facility Security
The security breakdowns extend well beyond the United States, exposing persistent vulnerabilities in fitness centers alike. In 2025, a court in Foshan, Guangdong province, heard a case involving a female member who sued a gym coach for voyeurism in a shower facility. Concurrently, a Hong Kong chain fitness center uncovered hidden pinhole cameras inside a locker room, leading to a one-year prison sentence for a 33-year-old aircraft maintenance worker. In Shanghai, a member at a gym faced hidden cameras twice within six months, only for management to respond by terminating her membership rather than overhauling facility security.
These recurring incidents highlight a shared pattern across international markets: inadequate equipment inspections, a lack of employee training for security breaches, and a corporate reflex to minimize liability rather than alert affected individuals. As legal proceedings continue in Collin County, the case forces a reckoning over basic privacy expectations inside spaces designed for personal vulnerability.
