Fitness Influencer Sued For Allegedly Misleading Clients with Eating Disorders

The state of Texas is suing fitness influencer Brittany Dawn, saying she gave people with eating disorders bad health advice.

• Fitness influencer Brittany Dawn is being sued by the state of Texas, court documents showed.

• She falsely claimed specialist knowledge of helping people with eating disorders, the suit alleged.

• She also offered generic plans and advice as "personalized" plans costing up to $300, it said.

Texas' attorney general is suing fitness influencer Brittany Dawn, accusing her of misleading customers with eating disorders and promising customized nutrition and fitness plans while giving patrons the same plan.

The lawsuit by Attorney General Ken Paxton, seen by Insider, alleged that for fees as high as $300 per person, Dawn sold largely similar fitness plans while saying they were personalized to each customer.

The Christian influencer — who has almost 500,000 followers on Instagram and describes herself as a "Jesus seeker" and "Kingdom chaser" in her Instagram biography — promised individualized feedback and regular check-ins that never happened, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit alleged that Dawn charged shipping fees when all her services arrived via electronic communications. 

Dawn did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. 

The suit also accused Dawn of misrepresenting her training to give health and fitness advice to customers with eating disorders. 

In one instance, Dawn shared a YouTube video in which she spoke about how she overcame an eating disorder, the lawsuit said. In social-media posts sharing that video, Dawn linked to her fitness and nutrition plans — which customers took to

mean she could tailor her services to those illnesses, the suit alleged. 

The suit said Dawn denied having offered services to people with eating disorders, but that 14 people complained to her and mentioned the illness in their complaints.

"The main reason I chose her out of all the coaches out there was specifically that she advertised herself as an 'eating disorder soldier,'" a customer is quoted as saying. 

Dawn gave inappropriate advice to at least one customer, the suit alleged. 

"I currently have an eating disorder, horrible body image views," one customer is cited as telling Dawn. They added, "I am underweight for my height." 

The influencer went on to advise cardio exercise and a low-calorie eating plan, which could only cause further weight loss, the suit alleged.

Paxton wants the court to force Dawn to fulfill all the personalized services she advertises, as well as bar her from saying she can give specialist advice to people with eating disorders.

The suit seeks up to $10,000 in damages for each violation of Texan civil law.

Allegations against Dawn first bubbled up in February 2019 when fans called her a "scammer," alleging that she failed to fulfill promised fitness services.

Soon after, she apologized to her fans and offered customers refunds on the grounds that they sign a nondisclosure agreement, as Insider's Jacob Shamsian reported. She later dropped this requirement after an outcry. 

By March that year, the Texas attorney general's office said it had received 22 complaints, and that it was looking into Dawn's business. At the time, the influencer told Insider that she had addressed all of the attorney general's complaints.

Source:Insider