Fitness Trainers File Lawsuit Against Harpo

By Amy Perry in News on Feb 25, 2010 9:40PM

Fitness trainers Dina Castillo and Frank Nunez filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Inc., claiming they were not paid for several months of training for 300 Harpo employees valued at $63,000. According to the Chicago Tribune, in 2008 the married owners of Unicus Fitness were asked to create a customized fitness program for employees of Harpo and to appear on an Oprah Radio XM program hosted by Oprah Winfrey's former personal trainer, Bob Green. The couple sent a mass email to their clients announcing their March 2009 appearance and Harpo officials said the email violated a confidentiality agreement with the talk show's parent company, which terminated their O Fitness Challenge program.

After termination, the lawsuit claims the couple was denied payment because Harpo attorneys said their services were voluntary and they had no formal business deal. The suit seeks unspecified damages. Calls to Harpo legal counsel William Becker by the Chicago Tribune weren’t returned.