PHOENIX — Mountainside Fitness will be temporarily shutting down Tuesday afternoon after a judge has denied a temporary restraining order request against Governor Doug Ducey, in connection to his executive order closing gyms across Arizona.
The decision was announced Tuesday morning, following the filing of the restraining order request last week by the gym's CEO Tom Hatten.
"Mountainside has also not shown that it will be irreparably injured by the [executive order]. As such, the request for a temporary restraining order is denied," the decision read.
On June 29, Governor Ducey announced an executive order forcing the closure of bars, gyms, and multiple other types of businesses starting that night, lasting for at least 30 days.
Following the announcement, Mountainside Fitness said that it would defy the order and remain open. Multiple Mountainside locations were cited after refusing to shut down.
Mountainside announced Tuesday morning that it would be temporarily closing at 2 p.m. “pending an outcome in the civil litigation case.”
They addressed the news in a press conference at noon Tuesday:
Hatten has made multiple public statements in relation to the executive order and the lawsuit he filed against Ducey.
A portion of the disposition reads: "Once again, this Court does not decide who here is 'right' and 'wrong.' The government has the weight of the law on its side. The burden that Mountainside has is immense. The Governor does not have to prove that his decision was correct. This Court must give extreme deference to the EO. The EO clearly had a rational basis. It is unlikely that Mountainside will prevail on the merits. As noted above, however, there must be some reasonable post-deprivation process 10 EOS claims that it might be in danger of having to permanently cease operations. This claim, however, is speculative. As noted above, EOS should have the opportunity to be open again within the next few weeks. Given the steps that it has taken to comply with ADHS guidelines, EO should have an excellent chance of being open after July 27, if the Governor makes the necessary forms available in a timely fashion. 11 At the same time, the current shutdown is temporary. Mountainside might be back in business by the end of this month. SUPERIOR COURT OF ARIZONA MARICOPA COUNTY CV 2020-093916 07/06/2020 Docket Code 926 Form V000A Page 12 provided. Mountainside has also not shown that it will be irreparably injured by the EO. As such, the request for a temporary restraining order is denied.'
A status conference is set for July 9.
Take a look at the full decision below.