GNC Class Action Filed Over Discontinued Gold Card Program

GNC Holdings Inc. faces a class action lawsuit alleging the nutritional supplement chain prematurely ended its gold card program.

“In exchange for an annual payment of $15, Program members received a Gold Card, which entitled them to receive a substantial discount on the purchase of in-store items for a one-year period,” the complaint explains.

According to the class action, over 7 million GNC customers took part in the gold card program.

However, GNC “unilaterally discontinued” the program in December of 2016. Because of this, the class action asserts that millions of consumers were “unable to receive the benefits of the Program for the full one-year period contemplated when they paid to join the Program.”

“Remarkably, GNC continued to sell Gold Cards until just a few weeks prior to discontinuation of the Program, while having full knowledge that purchasers would not receive the benefit of the Program,” the class action alleges.

This is not the only class action lawsuit GNC is facing for canceling its gold card program. At the beginning of this month, a class action filed in New Jersey made similar allegations against GNC. In that action, the plaintiff alleges that he had three more months of benefit from the gold card program, and GNC violated its contract with him.

Here, plaintiffs Melissa Santich and Keith Blackmer make similar claims against GNC. Santich states that she has been a customer of GNC for years, and purchased a gold card membership in May of 2016. Likewise, Blackmer says he has purchased nutritional supplements from GNC since 2012. He also purchased a GNC gold card membership in May of 2016.

Because GNC canceled the program in December, both plaintiffs claim that they had 40 percent of their year-long membership period left. The class action asserts that GNC breached its contract with plaintiffs, and other gold card customers. In addition, the complaint contends that GNC violated California’s unfair competition law.

According to the class action, “Specifically, by failing to disclose and concealing that the Program term was to be unilaterally cancelled before the completion of the one-year period, Defendant has engaged in unfair conduct within the meaning of the [California unfair competition law].”

The gold card program class action requests certification of a Class of “[a]ll persons who purchased a GNC Program membership in the United States after December 1, 2015.” In the alternative, the complaint requests certification of a subclass of all California residents who purchased a GNC gold card membership during the same time period. The class action seeks damages for putative Class Members, including statutory damages under California law.

Santich and Blackmer are represented by Chiharu G. Sekino and James C. Shah of Shepherd, Finkelman, Miller & Shah LLP.

The GNC Gold Card Program Class Action Lawsuit is Melissa Santich, et al. v. GNC Holdings Inc., Case No. 3:17-cv-00540, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.