A man claims he was sexually harassed at a New York City gym when three men in a steam room with him dropped their towels and started pleasuring themselves.

The alleged victim has filed a lawsuit against the fitness chain Equinox, after claiming he was enjoying an afternoon steam at the location on Broadway in Gramercy Park last November.

‘I’m relaxing, I’m sitting in the corner, it’s very meditative,’ the man, identified in court papers as just GB, told the New York Post.

‘The steam clears… And I look across from me. This gentleman, sitting pretty close, his towel is open, his legs are spread and he’s looking right at me, and the guy next to him was rubbing [the man’s] inner thigh.

‘He’s looking right at me, his towel’s off, and he’s masturbating.’

GB, who is a straight single father, told the paper that he then looked around and realized the third man in the steam room at the time was also masturbating.

He then said he panicked and thought he wouldn’t be able to escape – worried the three men might overpower him and sexually assault him.

The alleged victim then quickly left the steam room, dressed and went to the front desk to report the incident, but said staff members didn’t take any action.

He said the incident left him ‘shaken up.’

GB also alleges in the Manhattan Supreme Court Filing that Equinox ‘has known for as much as 10 years prior that similar wrongful acts were occurring in its steam showers.’

In a recording, taken by GB and obtained by the Post, the manager of the fitness chain location acknowledged it was a problem.

‘It’s something that every gym in New York City, not just Equinox, has an issue with,’ the manager can be heard saying.

The gym, where memberships cost upwards of $200 a month, told the Post it ‘thoroughly investigates’ complaints.

A spokeswoman for the location said staff ‘did exactly what in this case,’ adding ‘we maintain a zero-tolerance policy for any inappropriate behavior in our clubs.’

But GB claims the gym refused to revoke the masturbators’ memberships.

From UK Daily Mail