NY AG goes after Planet Fitness & Total Tan for indoor tanning practices

NY AG goes after Planet Fitness & Total Tan for indoor tanning practices

NY AG goes after Planet Fitness for indoor tanning practices The state’s top law enforcement officer today sued two tanning companies, including Total Tan, claiming they are skirting state law and wrongfully promoting bronzed skin without explaining risks or overseeing the well-being of clients.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman also filed two notices of intent two sue two other outfits, including Planet Fitness, a gym chain that offers unlimited tanning packages with little oversight, according to the AG’s office.

The World Health Organization has put indoor tanning in the same category as cigarette smoking when it comes to cancer-causing radiation. The National Institutes of Health has published a study saying indoor tanners are more likely to develop melanoma, a form of skin cancer.

Yet Total Tan – a chain with three Syracuse-area locations – has promoted indoor tanning as a beneficial source of vitamin D, according the lawsuit from the state. Vitamin D comes from an ultra-violet light not generally used in tanning businesses, according to the legal papers. (Read the lawsuit against Total Tan below.)

The attorney general sent undercover investigators into some Total Tan locations and followed the business’s healthy tanning claims on Twitter. Some stores boosted “Tanning is Smart” in posters, according to the lawsuit. In one case, the business promoted a client’s claim that he treated his kidney cancer by tanning at Total Tan, according to the legal papers.

Total Tan, through its attorneys, called the accusations untrue.

Schneiderman today filed lawsuits against Total Tan and Portofino, a New York City-based business. He’s suing them for false advertising, promoting indoor tanning as a way to reap vitamin D benefits, and claiming that indoor tanning is safer than outdoor sunbathing.

“Make no mistake about it: There is nothing safe about indoor tanning,” Schneiderman said in a written statement. “Irresponsible businesses that seek to rake in profits by misleading the public about the safety of their services will be held accountable by my office. Advertising and marketing cannot be used as a tool to confuse and endanger New York consumers.”

Total Tan, with locations in Auburn, North Syracuse and DeWitt, denied the accusations.

“The attorney general’s claim that Total Tan produced misleading advertising is not true,” the law firm, Harris Beach, said in a statement on behalf of the tanning business. “We are a small, Upstate, family-owned business that refuses to be intimidated by Mr. Schneiderman, who is trying to impose his own view of the world on our industry and the citizens of Upstate New York.”

Total Tan also says Schneiderman’s lead investigator in the case is the spouse of a Total Tan worker who was fired, the company’s lawyers say. Total Tan has filed a complaint with the state’s ethics commission claiming a conflict of interest. (Read the letter below.)

The case against Total Tan claims the company has twice amended its website and promotional materials, in response to the AG’s investigation. Yet the complaint says the company continues to tout “the health benefits and safety associated with tanning, but
minimizing the known relationship between tanning and melanoma risk.”

Schneiderman also filed legal paperwork pledging to sue Planet Fitness, a chain of gyms with six Central New York locations.

The notice of intent claims the gym business violated state law by failing to provide required warnings to consumers. He filed a notice of intent against Planet Fitness, which offers a monthly, unlimited tanning bed package. The attorney general claims the gyms provided little oversight on member usage and violated the disclosure and safety requirements of New York State tanning laws.

Yes, there are New York state tanning laws. They prohibit tanning for children under 17 and require parental consent for children between the ages of 17 and 18. The state laws also require businesses to supply customers with warnings about health risks and obtain acknowledgment forms from customers. The businesses must provide customers with protective eyewear, free of charge.

Schneiderman’s lawsuits claim Portofino failed to provide warnings and Total Tan charged its customers for eyewear.

Schneiderman today also filed a notice of intent on a fourth tanning outlet, Beach Bum Tanning Salons, which has 14 locations in New York City and on Long Island, for its misleading representations about the healthfulness of indoor tanning.

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Total Tan's complaint letter against Eric Schneiderman