I have been reviewing the draft complaint from my attorneys. We will be making three separate claims for relief.
A little background to catch up the new fans of Stevi's Saga. Back in May, soon after my legal name change and during the time I was getting my documents corrected, I approached the management of my gym to inquire about a transgender policy. Long story short, the eventual response, received in early July, was the termination of our family membership at our local fitness center without discussion or warning.
The first is "Breach of Contract" by the fitness center because "the Membership Agreement was terminated solely because Ms. Jones is a transgender woman." which is not one of the grounds specified in the contractual agreement between us. We will be seeking actual damages on this claim.
The second is "Violations of Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act" by the fitness center because the fitness center "terminated Ms. Jones's Membership Agreement in bad faith, without cause, and in violation of the Membership Agreement. It terminated the Membership Agreement solely because Ms. Jones is a transgender woman." "Terminating a contract based on the transphobia of the owner of" the fitness center "is immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous, and substantially injurious to consumers, including Ms. Jones." We will be seeking actual and treble damages and recovery of attorney's fees on this claim.
The third is "Tortious Interference with Contract" by the owner of the fitness center. (Tortious interference is when a third party interferes with an agreement between two other parties. The fitness center is an LLC and under contract law a separate party from the owner.) The owner "had no justification to intentionally induce" the fitness center "not to perform the Membership Agreement. His motives were not reasonably related to the protection of his legitimate business interests or the legitimate business interests of" the fitness center. "His only motive for interfering with Ms. Jones's Membership Agreement with" the fitness center "was actual malice toward Ms. Jones, specifically based on the fact that Ms. Jones is a transgender woman." We will be seeking actual and punitive damages on this claim.
We will be seeking damages, to be determined at trial, for each of the claims. As you can see, all three claims are based on the transphobic attitude of the owner. None of the claims for relief are based on anti-discrimination law. I have no codified specifically gender identity discrimination law to protect me in North Carolina. Rather, they are based on contract law and consumer protections. I do not know if this tack had been tried before. We shall see what happens.
I think I will see about delivering this lump of coal (this complaint) as a Christmas present to the owner of the fitness center via the GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE, SUPERIOR DIVISION.
What ya think, girls?
Stevi