Retail workers deal with angry customers every single day.
But dealing with the public got dangerous for one Miami gym employee.
And a Planet Fitness employee learned one painful lesson about asking a Florida woman to be quiet.
Woman goes ballistic after employee asks her to lower her voice
Planet Fitness markets itself as a “Judgment Free Zone” where everyone can work out without intimidation.
That promise turned into a sick joke for one Miami employee who got jumped by a customer for simply asking her to keep the noise down.
Kiara Bryant was causing a scene in the locker room at the Little Havana location on Southwest 8th Street on December 12.
The 35-year-old was yelling and acting out when a male employee approached her and told her she couldn’t yell inside the gym.
He warned Bryant that he would call the police if she didn’t lower her voice or leave.
That’s when Bryant got right up in the employee’s face.
The worker pushed her back twice in self-defense as she balled up her fists and kept coming at him aggressively.
Bryant then calmly put on her shoes, walked to the front desk, and jumped the counter to get at the employee.
Cellphone video captured the brutal beating that followed.
https://twitter.com/dispute_it_news/status/2001739794284445915?s=20
She repeatedly punched the worker in the face and nose with closed fists as he crouched down and shielded his head.
The man never fought back once despite the vicious assault.
Other employees stood by screaming “Call 911!” but nobody physically intervened to stop the attack.
The beating left the employee with a broken nose and facial cuts that required a trip to the hospital.
Bryant then tried to escape in her car but angry bystanders confronted her in the parking lot.
When police arrived around 10:11 a.m., Bryant was outside yelling profanities and trying to fight everyone in sight.
She even admitted to officers that she got in the employee’s face and flinched at him aggressively because he told her to stop being disorderly.
Then Bryant confessed outright that “yes she did batter the victim.”
Florida’s soft-on-crime policies let violent criminals off easy
Miami police arrested Bryant and charged her with misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct.
Her bond was set at a laughable $150.
That’s right – $150 for jumping a counter, repeatedly punching a man in the face, breaking his nose, and sending him to the hospital.
The victim’s attorney, Alecsander Kohn from the Weil Law Firm, said the charges are a sick joke.
“She took things too far, brutally battered our client, and ultimately, left him in the hospital with a broken nose and severe emotional distress,” Kohn told reporters.¹
He’s pushing prosecutors to upgrade the charges to felony battery given the severity of the injuries.
“This would be a case of felony battery. Hopefully, through some strong advocacy, there will be a modification of the charges to reflect the severity of the injuries he sustained,” Kohn explained.²
Under Florida law, felony battery applies when someone causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement to a victim.
A broken nose and being hospitalized sure sounds like great bodily harm.
But Bryant walked out of jail on a $150 bond while this employee is dealing with physical injuries and emotional trauma.
Planet Fitness banned Bryant for life and put out a statement claiming “zero tolerance for violence.”
That’s great, but zero tolerance means nothing when the criminal justice system treats workplace violence like a parking ticket.
Retail and service workers face this nightmare every day across America.
Over 57,000 workers suffered injuries from workplace assaults in 2021-2022 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.³
Retail workers experience 25% of all workplace violence incidents.⁴
The service industry accounts for 98% of workplace violence cases.⁵
These frontline workers are getting beaten, threatened, and abused while politicians do nothing to protect them.
This Planet Fitness worker did everything right – he tried to de-escalate, warned Bryant, and only pushed her away in self-defense.
His reward was a broken nose and watching his attacker walk free on a $150 bond.
That employee returned to work but he shouldn’t have to wonder if the next angry customer is going to jump the counter and beat him senseless.
Bryant’s attack is exactly why workers are fleeing retail and service jobs.
One in four retail workers say they’ve thought about quitting because of safety concerns.⁶
Can you blame them when violent criminals get treated like they got a speeding ticket?
The soft-on-crime policies that let attackers like Bryant off with a slap on the wrist are destroying the workplace for millions of Americans.
This employee learned the hard way that asking customers to follow basic rules can get you hospitalized while your attacker posts bail for less than the cost of a nice dinner.
¹ Alecsander Kohn, quoted in “Video shows woman repeatedly punching employee at Planet Fitness in Little Havana,” WSVN, December 17, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Factsheet on workplace violence, 2021-2022,” U.S. Department of Labor, 2023.
⁴ “27 Workplace Violence Statistics for 2025,” Keevee, February 2025.
⁵ “Workplace Violence Statistics By Industry, Gender, Job Role/Position And Facts (2025),” Sci-Tech Today, July 2025.
⁶ “Measuring the Impact of Workplace Violence on Retail Staff and Retention,” EHSLeaders, November 2025.
