8 Employees Fired by Company Managing Harvard Gyms

HealthFitness, a company that operates several of Harvard’s gyms, fired at least eight employees last week without warning, including three Harvard students, according to six current and former recreational staff members.

The employees, four of whom requested anonymity due to concerns of retaliation, said HealthFitness moved ahead with the firings after a payroll audit showed that some employees had clocked into work on their phones, instead of clocking in on computers at the gyms.

While employees were aware of the policy barring clocking in on phones, three former employees said it had not been previously enforced regularly. Managers told the employees, without further explanation, to keep the reason for their terminations confidential.

Amid the firings, two full-time employees resigned, citing issues with management and the workplace environment.

HealthFitness has overseen athletic facilities on campus, including the Malkin Athletic Center, Hemenway Gymnasium, and the Quadrangle Recreational Athletic Center since 2017, according to Imry Halevi, the Harvard senior associate director of athletics.

HealthFitness spokesperson Ann Watson declined to confirm the layoffs, but wrote in a statement to The Crimson that HealthFitness is an “equal opportunity employer that communicates and enforces policies in a consistent manner.”

“We are committed to providing an inclusive workplace,” she wrote.

In interviews, the current and former employees said that the firing came as a surprise to the team, and claimed it demonstrated a larger pattern of disorganization and inconsistent communication from management.

Amy R. Huang ’24 said that it was “kind of a shock” to hear that she was fired after being called into an 8 p.m meeting in the middle of her shift.

“I had been working there for a while and working so many hours for them,” Huang said. “I previously had no issues with management — I’d never met with them about anything — so I was just a little confused.”

“There’s no warning or anything,” she added.

—Staff writer Asher J. Montgomery can be reached at asher.montgomery@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @asherjmont or on Threads @asher_montgomery.

—Staff writer Aran Sonnad-Joshi can be reached at aran.sonnad-joshi@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @asonnadjoshi.

—Staff writer Sheerea X. Yu can be reached at sheerea.yu@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @_shuhree_.