Fitness club to pay nearly $100,000 for discrimination: woman with child barred from pool
6 April 00:21
The Dovgintsevsky District Court of Kryvyi Rih ruled that a fitness club’s requirement for a medical certificate to use the pool was unlawful. The court also ordered the chain to grant access to the client and her child without such a document and imposed a fine of nearly 100,000 UAH on the company for failing to provide the service, reports "Komersant Ukrainian" citing the Judicial and Legal Gazette.
Circumstances of Case No. 211/13886/25
In August 2025, the plaintiff purchased memberships to a fitness club in Kryvyi Rih for herself and her son for a total of 19,992 UAH. The terms included, among other things, use of the swimming pool.
However, starting October 1, 2025, their access to the pool was restricted—the administration required a medical certificate confirming the absence of contraindications. Without such a document, visits became impossible.
The plaintiff pointed out that:
- no regulatory act requires the provision of a certificate for the pool;
- she was not properly informed of this requirement when the contract was signed;
- the club offered to issue the certificate on-site for 450 UAH, despite not having a license to practice medicine.
After fruitless appeals to the club, she filed a consumer protection lawsuit.
The Court’s Position
The court established that there is a contract between the parties for the provision of sports and wellness services. At the same time, the defendant failed to prove that the plaintiff had been properly informed of the “club rules,” which require a medical certificate.
The key argument was that Ukrainian law does not contain a requirement for a mandatory medical examination or certificate to use swimming pools, and the Ministry of Health had not approved a specific form for such a certificate or the procedure for issuing it; therefore, such a requirement is unfounded.
The court also classified such conditions as potentially unfair under the Law of Ukraine “On Consumer Protection,” as they create an imbalance of rights between the parties and may impose obligations with which the consumer was not actually familiar.
What the Court Decided
The court partially granted the claim and ruled:
- to declare the requirement to provide a medical certificate unlawful;
- to oblige the club to grant the plaintiff and her child access to the pool without a certificate;
- to extend the validity of the membership passes for the period during which the service was not actually provided.
In addition, the court ordered the LLC to pay:
- UAH 96,561.36 in late fees for the delay in providing the service (from October 1, 2025, to March 10, 2026);
- 1,000 UAH for emotional distress (the claimed 5,000 UAH was reduced in accordance with the principles of reasonableness and fairness);
- 228 UAH in postage costs;
- UAH 1,211.20 in court fees.
The court denied the other claims, including the claim for a higher amount of moral damages.
