Former Mr. America Sues The Gym and B. R. Guest Over

Employment Contract

Date: March 17, 2006

Bodybuilder Fired After Turning Over Training Facility To Founder of Equinox

Fitness And Manhattan Restauranteur

Richard Barretta, former Mr. America and personal trainer to celebrities such as

Pierce Brosnan and Michael J. Fox, filed suit in New York State Supreme Court

against The Gym, a luxury training facility where he worked as Operations

Manager.  Also named in the suit are The Gym’s owners Danny Errico, founder

of Equinox Fitness Clubs, Manhattan restauranteur Stephen Hanson and

Hanson’s company, B. R. Guest, which operates over a dozen high profile

eateries such as Ruby Foo’s and the Blue Water Grill.

Barretta’s suit involves a multi-tiered deal in which Barretta and his business

partners from a gym venture called Duomo assigned Errico and Hanson the

lease for the space on E. 26th Street in Manhattan.  Errico and Hanson then

took over the Duomo location, including about 3 million dollars in

improvements, with a view toward opening an exclusive facility with just 1500

members.  As part of the deal, Barretta entered into a five year employment

contract with The Gym, which included a provision to develop state of the art

fitness programs such as Barretta’s trademarked workout, Afterburn.

Barretta’s complaint alleges that Errico negotiated the deal with Barretta while

he was  restrained by a non-compete agreement with Equinox Fitness Clubs,

holder of a brand he and siblings Lavinia and Vito sold in 2001 for 180 million

dollars, according to media reports.  The complaint also charges that Errico

insisted that the de facto sale of Barretta’s Duomo gym to Errico and Hanson be

structured as a lease assignment to avoid any appearance that Errico was

violating the non-compete with Equinox.

Trading on Barretta’s name, according to the complaint, Errico and Hanson

then trumpeted the opening of their high end club, while simultaneously

refusing to pay Barretta the salary or percentages owed to him under the

contract.  A B. R. Guest newsletter published at the time described The Gym as a

B. R. Guest project in conjunction with the Erricos and with the help of

Barretta, a “fitness industry guru.” Eventually, says Barretta, his employment at

The Gym was terminated without cause in violation of the contract, and the

staff excluded him from the club, thus depriving him of the facilities needed to

maintain relationships with his private training clients.

Mr. Barretta is seeking monetary relief including compensatory and punitive

damages.

Tuckner, Sipser, Weinstock & Sipser, LLP is a Plaintiff’s labor and employment

law firm in NYC.  For more information about the case, or to obtain a copy of

the state court complaint, contact Jack Tuckner or William Sipser at

212.766.9100 or jtuckner@womensrightsny.com or

wjsipser@womensrightsny.com