Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald announces that the Rockingham County Superior Court has found Thomas Lavigne, owner and operator of CrossFit Affirmation, a health club located at 4A Puzzle Lane, Unit #3, Newton, NH, to be in violation of the Consumer Protection Act, RSA 358-A and the Health Club statute, RSA 358-I.

In an order dated July 31, 2018, the Court found Mr. Lavigne liable for his failure to comply with the Attorney General Office’s subpoena and ordered him to pay a fine of $5,000.

The Court further found Mr. Lavigne liable for 4 separate violations of the Consumer Protection Act for (1) his failure to register his health club with the Attorney General, (2) his solicitation of health club memberships for a term of more than 1 year, contrary to the Health Club statute, (3) his failure to disclose his membership liability for purposes of bonding to protect prepaid membership dues, and (4) his failure to provide consumers with contracts containing statutorily required consumer protection disclosures and buyer's rights. For each violation, the Court ordered Lavigne to pay a civil penalty of $10,000. In addition, the Court granted the State’s motion for attorney's fees and costs and ordered Mr. Lavigne to reimburse the State $3,701.25 for the cost of the investigation and prosecution.

The Court also granted the State's request for a permanent injunction that requires Mr. Lavigne stop operating a health club in this state and stop accepting any membership dues in any form from any consumer until he is properly registered with the Attorney General's Office as a health club.

The Court had previously granted a temporary injunction on June 12, 2018.

The Attorney General's Office filed a criminal misdemeanor charge in Rockingham County Superior Court alleging that Mr. Lavigne continued to operate his health club in violation of a temporary injunction order that the Court had previously entered. Mr. Lavigne is scheduled to be arraigned on the criminal charge on Monday, August 13, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. That charge and the allegations are merely accusations, and Mr. Lavigne is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.