The publisher’s lawsuit against the luxury fitness centre follows multiple allegations of unlawful information-gathering at its titles by a number of public figures.
Associated Newspapers, a division of Lord Rothermere’s Daily Mail and General DMG Media, is suing the gym Equinox Kensington over complaints that people dropping weights is causing extreme vibration and noise in its office below.
Associated, which is one of the largest publishers of national newspapers and news websites in the UK, with titles including the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, MailOnline, Metro and Metro.co.uk, has filed a High Court claim against the gym.
The luxury fitness centre occupies the same office building as Associated Newspapers in Kensington. The newspaper group claims that the vibrations from the gym two floors above it, have been so severe that items have fallen off the wall, including artwork, and an air-conditioning unit. The aircon unit they say narrowly missed an employee and caused damage to the property. Staff were sent to work from home for a fortnight due to safety concerns, the court documents state.
Associated Newspapers claims it has spent over £17,000 investigating the noise and vibration issues coming from the gym. The group accuses Equinox of negligence, and not taking adequate protection against vibration and noise. It also claims the gym failed to pay attention to complaints. Despite repeated requests, Associated says the high-end gym failed to stop the issues and the remedial works they have carried out have not improved the situation.
The Daily Mail’s publisher is seeking an injunction that would prevent the gym from further nuisance and to award them up to £25,000 in damages.
The lawsuit against the luxury fitness centre follows seven high-profile people bringing legal action against the publisher of the Daily Mail over allegations of widespread unlawful behaviour. In November, a judge determined that the Duke of Sussex, Elton John, Doreen Lawrence, David Furnish, Sadie Frost, Liz Hurley and Simon Hughes could move forward with legal action against Associated Newspapers over multiple allegations of unlawful information gathering and “gross breaches of privacy” at its titles.
In light of the newspaper group facing multiple lawsuits for alleged unethical journalistic practices, some people mocked its court case against Equinox Kensington’s alleged nuisance behaviour that they say caused an air-conditioning unit to fall off the wall.
“An act of God,” wrote one amused social media user.
Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward
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