An Orthodox Jewish woman who was barred from working out in a skirt in her local Lucille Roberts gyms in Brooklyn has won the right to keep on her traditionally religious garb.
The health-club chain said Tuesday that it will no longer turn away skirt-wearing gym-goers after being sued by Crown Heights school teacher Yosefa Jalal Wood-Isenberg in 2015.
Wood-Isenberg claimed that Lucille Roberts’ employees at two gyms — one on Kings Highway and the other on Flatbush Avenue — harassed, screamed at and ultimately banned her because she wanted to exercise in a skirt.
She said that at one point, a manager said she was “‘trespassing’ because she was not wearing appropriate attire.”
As part of a settlement filed in Manhattan federal court, Lucille Roberts also agreed to reinstate Ms. Wood-Isenberg’s membership in the gym and to pay her an undisclosed amount.
“This is a joyous win for women who dress modestly,” Wood-Isenberg said in a statement.
She thanked God, her legal team at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady, and “all who supported us along the way.”
