Boss sexually assaulted yoga teacher in ‘downward dog’ pose, new Charlotte suit claims
Kyle Conti, once one of Charlotte’s best-known and most highly acclaimed yoga teachers, may have exited the city’s fitness scene, but the sexual-misconduct scandal that enveloped his reputation continues to build.
Conti, the former owner of Charlotte Yoga studios on Woodlawn Avenue and in South End, is accused by two former employees in a 2019 lawsuit of an array of misconduct: Both women say they were sexually assaulted or harassed by Conti, then fired after they confronted him about his behavior or refused his sexual advances.
The allegations — originally part of a broader Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint that the Observer reported in April 2018 — include intentional infliction of emotional distress, sexual assault and battery, and wrongful termination. The women and their attorney, Meg Maloney of Charlotte, have asked for a jury trial.
The Observer does not identify possible victims of sexual assault.
Conti’s attorney, John Brickley of Charlotte, did not respond to a request for comment. In the past, he has said Conti “vehemently denies the allegations.”
But as health-and-wellness activities continue to boom, the legal fight between Conti and his former employees has shined a local spotlight on a worldwide issue: How safe are yoga studios and other fitness outlets for female teachers and students?
For more than two decades, some of yoga’s most famous names have been implicated in sex scandals involving their mostly female clientele, according to a July story in the New Yorker.
The most recent example: Bikram Choudhury, the founder of the hugely popular “hot yoga.” He fled the United States after refusing to pay a $7 million judgment to his lawyer who accused Choudhury of forcing her to cover up allegations of his sexual misconduct with other women.
‘Explicit’ yoga T-shirt drew lawsuit
Charlotte Yoga was long considered one of the city’s most popular and influential yoga studios, serving as the training ground for a generation of instructors. A 2015 listing of top Charlotte teachers included Conti and three of his staff.
The brouhaha over Conti’s treatment of female staff and students surfaced almost two years ago when Conti, scheduled to attend an EEOC meeting that day, posted a selfie of himself wearing only a towel, saying he relished the chance to meet with his accusers face to face.
In the EEOC filing, the women said Conti frequently made lurid public comments about his customers and employees while bragging that he’d slept with many of them. The accusers also say Conti made a habit of inappropriately touching attractive students.
The EEOC allegations date back to 2015 and could be added to the recent lawsuit at a later date, the lawsuit says.
In 2018 statements from himself and his attorney, Conti said the allegations are not true.
A few days later, as the allegations that he operated a sexually hostile environment for his teachers and clients began to spread, Conti announced that he was stepping away from the day-to-day operations of his two studios.
He sold both last year. He also filed two lawsuits, accusing the mother of one of the plaintiffs in the most recent complaint of defamation and other allegations.
According to Conti’s suit, the mother ran into Conti’s then girlfriend — who was also a Charlotte Yoga employee — at a 2017 fitness convention and told her that Conti had sexually assaulted her daughter.
Conti’s lawsuit alleges that the mother’s statements brought on feelings of “isolation, stomach issues, headaches, depression, fear, anxiety and stress” and led Conti to seek counseling.
The mother counter-sued. The dispute was mutually dismissed by both sides.
In the other lawsuit, Conti sued a former Charlotte bartender, Karla McCarley, whom he accused of posting a photo of herself in a T-shirt bearing the Charlotte Yoga logo that depicted “an explicit and vulgar pornographic image” of a man improperly assisting a female in a yoga pose. Conti later dropped his complaint.
The depicted pose on the T-shirt resembles one of the central allegations against Conti in the most recent lawsuit.
One of the accusers — a former Charlotte Yoga instructor — claims that Conti assaulted her while she was doing a “downward dog” pose during a class at one of Conti’s studios.
In the dog pose, one of the most well-known in all of yoga, practitioners form a downward-facing “V” by keeping their hands and feet flat on the floor while their backs and legs remain straight.
According to the lawsuit, Conti approached the instructor, stood on her hands so she was unable to move, then “groped her hips and glutes (rear end) with his hands ... pressed his entire pelvic area into (her) back and made a sexual comment” to her.
She alleges in the lawsuit that she was fired after she complained.
The second accuser, a higher-ranking former Charlotte Yoga employee, says Conti once blocked her leaving the front desk, grabbed her body and told her in graphic terms that he wanted to have sex with her, the lawsuit says.
In August, the former teacher told the Observer’s sister publication, CharlotteFive, that she was happy the venerable Charlotte Yoga studio on Woodlawn had changed hands.
“I’m grateful to see that the studio is creating a positive and loving environment,” she said. “Yogis shouldn’t have to worry about how safe their yoga studio is.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 11:30 AM.
