I love spinning. I have never been to SoulCycle, but i love my peloton. SoulCycle is an indoor cyclying class that is owned by Stephen Ross, the owner of the Miami Dolphins. At one time, it operated 99 studios around the United States.
SoulCycle is now defending a new lawsuit filed in New York where a female executive, Jordan Kafenbaum, claims that the company has a pattern of firing women who have gotten pregnant, and then blaming it on the coronavirus pandemic.
Soul Cycle fired Kafenbaum on April 27, just 32 days after she gave birth, and then claimed it was eliminating her job due to the pandemic. Ms. Kafenbaum claims that SoulCycle subsequently named a male executive to her former role as senior director of instructors and talent. She alleges in her lawsuit that she worked for SoulCycle for seven years and eventually oversaw 400 instructors before her termination. She claims that she was promised a promotion by her boss in 2019 and that the male who later was given her former job this month was to report to her once she was promoted.
She alleges in her lawsuit that, “SoulCycle made such plans for Ms. Kafenbaum before it knew that Ms. Kafenbaum was pregnant.” She claims that the company’s attitude towards her changed after she became pregnant. “Everything changed once that happened,” the suit said.
Kafenbaum claims that the spinning company has carried out this same pattern with three other female employees who were terminated shortly after or before they gave birth earlier this year. She claims that SoulCycle claimed that each of these terminations was due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Cotzen Law has handled a wide array of employment related disputes, representing both employees and employers. Please call us if you have any questions regarding an employment dispute.
