--- description: The man, a practicing Muslim, alleges that he was targeted because of his faith title: Man Sues L.A. Fitness for Banning Him From Praying image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Civil Rights](/tag/civil-rights/) ## Civil Rights Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ohio Muslim Sues L.A. Fitness for Banning Him From Praying in the Locker Room by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 24, 2015 8:24 AM CUT by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 24, 2015 8:24 AM CUT A Muslim man in Cincinnati [filed a lawsuit](http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-muslim-prayer-la-fitness-20150223-story.html "undefined") against gym franchise L.A. Fitness on Monday, after managers at his local branch ordered him to stop praying in the locker room. Mohammad Fall, 28, said three managers walked up to him while he was praying on Jan. 29 and said he would be banned from the facility if he continued to do so, the Los Angeles _Times_ reports. Fall’s attorney, Timothy Burke, told the _Times_ that his client’s habit of praying after a workout “was widely known,” and “nobody had an issue with it.” However, Chris Link, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Ohio, said that Fall might have to prove that he was specifically targeted for being a Muslim in order to win the lawsuit. \[[_L.A. Times_](http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-muslim-prayer-la-fitness-20150223-story.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3719885/la-fitness-ohio-lawsuit-muslim-prayer-ban/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3719885/la-fitness-ohio-lawsuit-muslim-prayer-ban/"},"headline":"Ohio Muslim Sues L.A. Fitness for Banning Him From Praying in the Locker Room","datePublished":"2015-02-24T08:24:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:39:11.622Z","description":"The man, a practicing Muslim, alleges that he was targeted because of his faith","url":"https://time.com/3719885/la-fitness-ohio-lawsuit-muslim-prayer-ban/","keywords":["Civil Rights","Muslim","Ohio","Ban","prayer","Cincinnati"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/civil-rights/","name":"Civil Rights"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3719885/la-fitness-ohio-lawsuit-muslim-prayer-ban/","name":"Ohio Muslim Sues L.A. Fitness for Banning Him From Praying in the Locker Room"}}]}] ```