TikTokker says gym refused to ban male customer who followed her home and assaulted her

‘How can they care more about a contract than their own member’s safety???’ asks Jessi Balter

A TikTokker in Florida says a man followed her home from her gym and sexually assaulted her, but the health club refused to ban him – until her video went viral.

Jessi Balter made her accusation public in a TikTok video, which has now garnered almost 7m views. The footage does not depict the assault, but shows Ms Balter working out at the gym on what she says was “the day a man followed me home from the gym and into my apartment”.

“I reported the incident to LA Fitness and they refused to ban him,” Ms Balter says in the captions. “How can they care more about a contract than their own member’s safety???”

After the video went viral, Ms Balter posted an update in which she said LA Fitness called her to apologise and asked what they could do to help.

“I was just called, and I spoke to the district manager of operations of South Florida,” she said, adding that she explained her complaint to the manager in “full detail”.

“He fully agreed and he apologised on their behalf, and he offered me a refund,” Ms Balter said. That refund was for a membership she couldn’t use, she explained, because she was “too scared to go back to that gym”.

Ms Balter did not say whether she had called the police over the incident, although she implied that she had not.

“He told me that they have my full support if I wanted to reach out to law enforcement,” she said of the LA Fitness manager. “They would be fully cooperative and help me out there.”

But out of fears for her own safety, Ms Balter said, she stopped short of naming names.

“As for the guy who assaulted me, for my safety I do not feel comfortable giving them his information, basically because he knows where I live,” she said.

On TikTok, many viewers offered their sympathy and support, and some shared stories of similar experiences.

“Same here,” one commented. “I was touched inappropriately on my hands/arm by an old man at my club when I was 17. I finally spoke up and they won’t remove him.”

“Cancel your gym contract with them due to feeling unsafe,” another wrote. “Make them lose a contract either way.”

Ms Balter responded that she had, but LA Fitness charged her a $150 cancellation fee. (This may be what the gym refunded during her conversation with the district manager.)

“It’s scary that that isn’t enough for him to get banned,” another viewer commented. “I’m so sorry.”

“Terrifying,” Ms Balter replied.

The Independent has reached out to LA Fitness for comment.