PHOENIX — A judge ruled against Mountainside Fitness in another legal step in their fight to reopen their gyms.
Judge Timothy Thomason ruled late Monday that Gov. Doug Ducey would not be held in contempt of court.
Mountainside Fitness, led by outspoken owner Tom Hatten, argued the process put in place by the Arizona Department of Health Services would not be timely or objectively followed.
AZDHS asked businesses like gyms to follow benchmarks and outline plans to keep customers safe.
The ruling issued late Monday night read, in part:
"There is a process in place. Fitness centers are taking advantage of the process, some of them successfully. Mountainside has not even given the process a chance to work. It only submitted a belated application on Friday. ADHS has had no opportunity to review and respond. This Court cannot find that the process implemented by ADHS violates procedural due process.
The Court does not find that the Governor violated a Court order. Indeed, it appears as if the Governor directed ADHS to generate a process that complied with the Court’s Orders. As such, there is no basis to find the Governor in contempt of Court.8
The Petition for Contempt is denied."
Mountainside Fitness said in a tweet on Tuesday that "reopening soon will be inevitable."
EoS Fitness was initially part of the contempt position, but they worked with AZDHS and was allowed to resume operations.
