L.A. Fitness fires workers and apologizes after racial incident
The gym chain took immediate action after a viral video showed police removing two black men from a New Jersey location. The incident comes days after Starbucks’ similar scandal.
A new pattern is emerging for U.S. companies.
Mobile technology is changing they way corporations are responding to local incidents in their stores, and viral videos are making local stories into national crises.
After Starbucks was forced to address racial bias in a Philadelphia location after a manager called the police on two black men, a New Jersey L.A. Fitness almost identically replicated the situation. However, L.A. Fitness was watching how Starbucks handled its crisis, including the backlash after the company didn’t immediately fire the manager who had called the police.
The gym made a different move, swiftly terminating the manager and two other employees.
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