A New York woman was allegedly awoken from her post-yoga meditative bliss by a maintenance worker masturbating next to her. So she’s suing her yoga studio.

Keiko Herskovitz is a regular at Equinox’s Pure Yoga West on New York’s Upper West Side. She was wrapping up her yoga practice in the shavasana pose when she says she heard someone enter the room, reports the New York Post.

Shavasana is also known as the “corpse” pose and true to form, it involves a yogi lying with her eyes shut, closing out the world, and basically acting like a corpse.

When Herskovitz asked the maintenance worker what he was doing, the 19-year-old quickly covered himself and ran out of the room, her suit claims.

The yogi says she then complained to a manager who blew her off saying that the worker “was a good employee.” After she complained to the cops, Herskovitz says that the yoga studio continued to downplay the seriousness of her complaints by continuing to employ the teen and seemingly taking no action against him.

Herskovitz then sued Related Companies, which owns Equinox, for unspecified damages.

Generally, employers may be liable for the acts of their employees under the theory of respondeat superior. As long as the employee committed the act while on the job – or, as courts would say, “within the scope of his employment” – the employer may be held liable.

However, this does not mean that an employer is liable for all injuries committed by employees. Instead, Related Companies may argue that the teen’s alleged act was outside the scope of his employment. Perhaps the worker was off duty, and had some free time on his hands?

That could be a stretch. But until the management changes at Pure Yoga West, Herskovitz’s lawyer says she won’t be going back.

Related Resources:

  • N.Y. Yogi Loses Zen, Sues Gym for Employee Disturbing Her Meditation (ABC News)
  • Abercrombie Model Forced to Masturbate Before Photo Shoot: Lawsuit (FindLaw’s Legally Weird)
  • Woman Gets $95M Verdict: Boss Masturbated on Her (FindLaw’s Legally Weird)
  • Sorry Bikram, You Can’t Copyright Yoga Poses (FindLaw’s Legal Grounds)

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