Mountainside Fitness Asks Judge To Hold Arizona Gov. Ducey In Contempt Over Reopening Guidance

By Scott Bourque
Published: Friday, August 14, 2020 - 4:50pm
Updated: Saturday, August 15, 2020 - 9:04am

Mountainside Fitness
Tim Agne/KJZZ
Mountainside Fitness gym in Phoenix on July 1, 2020.

Attorneys for Mountainside Fitness filed a motion asking a judge to hold Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey in civil contempt over what they say is his failure to provide adequate guidance for gym reopening by a court-imposed deadline.

The Governor's Office says the information they provided on Monday meets the requirements set forth by the judge.

Superior Court Judge Timothy Thomason ordered the Governor’s Office to provide gyms and health clubs with guidelines for reopening by Aug. 11. 

On Thursday, lawyers from Mountainside Fitness filed a motion to hold the governor in contempt, arguing the governor defied the judge’s order by failing to set guidelines for gyms.

“It’s been an ever-changing set of protocols since the day we were shut down for the second time on June 29,” Mountainside Fitness founder Tom Hatten said in a statement. “We have been desperately trying to understand first why we were forced to close, where's the evidence, which we also proved in court that there wasn't any evidence to prove that we should be closed.  If there are protocols, why does the state keep changing its own protocols and then continues to change the guidelines every time they lose a ruling. We are now on our fourth set of protocols, which once again doesn't give us any way to open again.”

Ducey's office said they provided the required information to gyms on Monday, and would fight the contempt motion.

"On Monday, the Department of Health Services released public health recommendations for the safe reopening of paused businesses in the state of Arizona, which complies with Judge Thomason's order," Ducey's office said in a statement. "Businesses have the opportunity through the attestation process for review of individual circumstances in the event that they are denied the ability to reopen for public health reasons. We will continue to make responsible decisions in the best interest of public health."

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