Widow of man who collapsed running on treadmill and died sues fitness center for $13M

MULTNOMAH COUNTY, Ore. — The widow of a 62-year-old man who collapsed while running on a treadmill and died filed a lawsuit against the gym seeking $13 million.

Stacy L. Rutledge filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court against 24 Hour Fitness for not properly training its employees on how to respond to an emergency, the Oregonian reported.

"We were saddened by the passing of our club member, and our thoughts are with the member's family," the gym told the Oregonian. "As a matter of policy, 24 Hour Fitness does not comment on pending litigation."

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David L. Rutledge started running on a treadmill around 5:10 a.m. Dec. 21, 2017, at 24 Hour Fitness. About 20 minutes later, he collapsed, according to the lawsuit.

A gym member working out behind Rutledge came to his aid. He tried to find an employee to call 911 and to get access to the gym's defibrillator, according to the lawsuit.

Eventually, the gym member found Corey Lay, the only fitness center employee on duty, in the restroom. However, after finding him, it took Lay, who had never worked at that gym location before, several minutes to call 911 and he did not know where the defibrillator was, the lawsuit states.

The other gym member started performing CPR, but by the time emergency responders arrived, Rutledge had died.

Rutledge, an electrical engineer for 34 years, had planned to retire the following day.

Cox Media Group