A Clark County (Nev.) judge this week ruled that the Las Vegas Athletic Club is a private entity that isn't required to have full-time lifeguards be on duty at its pools.
The ruling comes as part of a lawsuit over whether the Las Vegas Athletic Club should be required to staff lifeguards at its facilities. The Southern Nevada Health District released a video showing a woman fighting for her life at one of the club's pools on Feb. 4, 2024.
The woman, identified as 58-year-old Leticia Triplett, can be seen struggling to swim for around 20 minutes.
On Oct. 6, a man was found face down in the LVAC’s hot tub. Witnesses and lifeguards pulled him from the water and began life-saving measures. When first responders arrived shortly after, the man was transported to a local hospital where he recovered from the near drowning.
The death of Triplett prompted the Southern Nevada Health District to shut down the gyms in August 2024 and to reopen only after meeting certain requirements, including requiring lifeguard on-staff.
According to Fox 13, the court determined that Southern Nevada Health District's decision was "arbitrary and capricious."
"LVAC is a private club requiring membership and payment of dues. SNHD's power to regulate swimming pools is limited to public pools, and here the court finds that SHND wrongfully changed LVAC's private club status to public."
The court also determined that there is a lack of evidence supporting the argument that LVAC's pools pose the same drowning risk as deep-water pools or that a lifeguard could have prevented Triplett's death.
