Family Sues Southern California Gym Over Dad’s Heart Attack

A Los Angeles gym is facing a lawsuit from the three kids of a man who had a heart attack and died while working out.

City News Service reports Marc Palotay’s son and two daughters filed the lawsuit earlier this week seeking automatic defibrillator because they say the gym didn’t have an automatic defibrillator as required by a 2007 state law.

The lawsuit says Palotay was working out on the morning of March 20 when he had a minor heart attack that turned fatal because he wasn’t treated with a defibrillator until emergency medical personnel arrived.

Gym manager Sean Bernig says the gym did have an AED, and that the man’s trainer was an independent contractor responsible for getting him help. Palotay also signed a liability waiver as part of his membership.