MEET JUSTIN PAYNE
August 12, 2015
BREAKING: Thibodaux police chief stepping down
August 12, 2015
Until recently, Nicole James was operating a gym that had garnered a reputation for good work with youngsters seeking nothing more than recreation, as well as – in some instances – the potential for competitive gold.
But a dispute between the mother of a young athlete and James’ own mom, former school counselor Brenda Powell, played out very publicly and the subject of more than 2,000 Facebook shares, has tarnished an image carefully built over the past 10 years.
Social media experts say the saga contains lessons all businesses should heed, as more and more consumer complaints at many levels take on context in the online world beyond what either posters or business owners might imagine.
Holly Pellegrin of Houma shared a photo of a letter she received from James’ mother, Brenda Powell, on Facebook. It was sent with a check to settle a small claims court suit, and was admittedly ill-written. Pellegrin never realized her post would resonate with other parents to the degree it has, or that it would be shared thousands of times all over the U.S. as well as in Canada. The post was also shared by others to other social media sites, including Buzzfeed, an international forum.
James has apologized publicly on her mother’s behalf, but that hasn’t stopped telephoned, threats and other responses that have caused her to notify the police. The apology was on the gym’s Facebook page. But the responses appearing there, some uncharitable, some vulgar, caused her to take the Facebook page down.
“People have used Facebook as a platform of hate, we have been harassed since Friday, behind a mistake that my 70-year-old mother made,” James said. “My mother is going through some health issues. No one was harmed. We don’t harm kids. We built our gym for the last 10 years on our hard work, and our dedication to kids.”
BAHAMAS BOUND
The controversy swirls around Britta Pellegrin, now 10-years old and just starting 6th grade at St. Matthews Episcopal Church School in Houma, joined the gym when she was around eight. A gander at Olympic competition on television resulted in Britta telling her mom that she wanted to be a gymnast.
Although the gym would make a big dent in the family’s budget, Pellegrin made her daughter’s wish come true. The cost was about $110 per month.
Britta tumbled and jumped, mastered equipment and made a good showing, and at the suggestion of James she was moved up into the gym’s competitive team. The cost rose, with equipment and additional fees, to about $300 per month, but Pellegrin didn’t mind.
Pellegrin was informed last year of a planned competition in the Bahamas.
The Pellegrins decided to make the competition a family vacation, especially since it coincided with the Christmas holiday.
“Eight or 10 little girls, competing, going to the dolphin swim, going to the beach, how much fun would that be for all of them together,” Pellegrin thought.
The gym would pay the fees and parents would pay for transportation, which seemed like a good deal to Pellegrin.
CHANGE IN PLANS
The deadline for signing up was Oct. 10, 2014, and Pellegrin waited until then to buy her tickets. James says she told Pellegrin to wait. Pellegrin denies this, noting that a gym employee told her go right ahead.
“I told the secretary after I booked which flight I was on. We even looked together in the gym office to see if she could get a ticket with her daughter,” Pellegrin said.
The United Airlines tickets were $588 each. Two weeks later, Pellegrin said, the gym told her that not enough children were signed up and the trip was canceled.
“I was fuming,” Pellegrin said. “I wouldn’t even begin to describe what I felt, all I could think about was I bought those plane tickets.”
She discussed the matter with Brenda Powell, the gym’s owner of record.
“She was adamant that it was not her problem,” Pellegrin said. “After I made a further fuss, her daughter (James) was trying to work it out.”
A suggestion was made for Britta to go to a tournament in Orlando with other girls. The gym, Pellegrin was told by James, would pay the ticket-changing fee, through credits for upcoming gym bills.
Pellegrin was still trying to rescue the Orlando trip, however, and communicated with competition organizers to see if her daughter might still attend, possibly with James traveling as her coach, with no luck.
She also checked with other gyms to see if her daughter could switch teams and still go to the Bahamas, but no potential existed for that.
LOCKER HURT
Things really went sour when Pellegrin showed up at the gym with Britta for one of her regular sessions to further discuss the matter. When Pellegrin attempted to speak with Powell, she says, she was told that their membership was cancelled.
Britta had gone to her gym locker as usual, and found that all of her personal items were no longer there.
“It was already cleaned out, in front of all the other girls, at practice. That was too much for her and she was in tears,” Pellegrin said, explaining how she tried to comfort her daughter. “I told her these are adult problems, this has nothing to do with you. That was it for me, when she started to cry.”
Mother and daughter were ordered to leave the gym and they did.
Pellegrin filed for her ticket transfer money as a small claim at Houma City Court, and the case was heard before Judge Matthew Hagen, who ruled in favor of Pellegrin, awarding $600 plus costs for uniforms and refunded fees. The court costs, amounting to $155, were also awarded.
Powell paid the judgment almost immediately, except for the court costs.
When Pellegrin opened the envelope containing the check she blanched.
“Thanks for the tax write-off,” a note enclosed with the check reads. “It is such a relief to have you and your worthless gymnast gone. Garbage in. Garbage out.”
There are no words, Pellegrin said, to describe her hurt and anger.
“Please feel free to share,” she posted on her Facebook account. The Aug. 6 message to Pellegrin’s 182 friends, posted at 7:42 p.m., includes a photo of the letter and the check. “Thanks Mrs. Brenda Powell at James Academy of Gymnastics,” it reads. “Really a 60 yr old plus woman sends this message along with payment . But Britta wasn’t worthless as long as I was writing $300 plus worth of checks every month for lessons And guess what? I was still right and the judge agreed. Oh and I’ll be back at the courthouse next week to see why you didn’t pay court cost. I’m not through yet!”
VIRAL POST
Pellegrin’s Facebook friends shared and commented. And their friends shared, and friends of others shared again.
“How can anyone go there knowing what kind of person she is,” posted Brenda Carpenter. “So glad she is out of there and away from that woman.”
“You have got to be kidding me!!,” posted Christy Hughes McGraw. “That b—h needs a good ole fashion a– whoopin!!!! Classless!!!!!!!”
Sharon K Spires-Gagnard wrote, “it’s really sad that you treat children so worthless. Parents please protect your children from the abuse that these people will inflict upon them!!”
As of Monday morning, the total number of shares was in excess of 2,600 and growing.
“I thought people in Houma are seeing it,” Pellegrin said, not expecting her post to go far and intending – as she mentioned in several replies to posts – only to warn other parents of the problem. “I learned that Houma people do not like you to put down children, they are adamant that you do not put down children. They are like mama tigers, we will eat you alive.”
MOTHER TO MOTHER
James said she regrets the note her mother sent. Powell, she said, has not been well and her behavior of late has not been indicative of herself.
“We tried to rectify the situation,” James said. “She didn’t lose anything on those tickets, I offered free tuition and she wanted cash in hand. She totally extorted my 70-year-old mother. She dragged my 70-year-old mother who is not well into small claims court. No one did anything to any child; it was a mother lashing out at a disgruntled customer. People know that she loves kids and would never say anything like that to a child. She is not thinking correctly and has health issues. We have been dealing with this woman for a year now, mom couldn’t take it anymore and she lashed out, and I have apologized. I shouldn’t have to lose customers because of an argument a disgruntled parent is having with my mother. It was a letter from mother to mother, and shame on that mother for exploiting her child on Facebook. What my mother did was wrong but she shouldn’t be crucified for something that has never harmed a child.”
James said she is trying to convey the apology to customers who call asking questions, and says there have been calls from people saying they want to cancel. She is taking the problems, she said, individually as they come.
RETURN TO NORMALCY
James said she is hoping the storm will pass, and that the gym can keep focus on training future athletes.
She has confidence in the ability of her coaches – especially assistant coach Victor Frisov, who trained Russian gymnast Vladimir Artemov, who won a gold medal in the 1988 summer Olympics.
“We are proud of everything we try to teach our kids,” James said. “Vladimir sees to it that they learn slowly and develop correctly.”
Pellegrin has enrolled Britta at Jennings Gymnastics Inc. in Schriever and says that so far she is pleased with their services.
Her post, she maintains, was reasonable under the circumstances and she notes that at all times she has conducted herself properly.
The actions of others, she said, go beyond her intent of sharing information with other mothers. It was Powell’s action, ultimately, that resulted in the post, she notes.
“Of course I don’t want anyone hurt,” she said. “I just wanted to get what I was owed and the judge agreed. She did not have to be nasty.”
Britta Pellegrin in her new uniform from the Jenkins Gym in Schriever, where she now practices following a bitter rift between her mother and owners of James Academy of Gymnastics in Houma.
