Two members of the Tucson (Ariz.) Country Club have filed civil-rights complaints with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, saying the club discriminates against women by having a “men’s grill,” men-only tee times and membership policies that favor men, reports the Arizona Daily Star.
By making their complaints, the members, Nena Ashton and John Hunnicutt, became the first to take a decades-old internal conflict outside the gates of the club.
The complaints were underlined by the recent experience a local businesswoman said she had at the club. About two months ago, Lisa Lovallo, the vice president in charge of the local Cox Communications office, was ejected from the men’s grill after playing a round of golf at the club, she said.
Thomas Zlaket, the former chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court and a recent member of the club’s board, is representing Tucson Country Club in the most recent dispute.
At Tucson Country Club, women are not allowed to play on the golf course before noon on Saturdays and before 10 a.m. on Sundays. Nena Ashton also says the club’s practices in assigning memberships rob women of voting powers. When a married couple joins, reports the Star, the club automatically puts the membership in the husband’s name, effectively granting him voting powers in the club. Additionally, the current board is all male, and so have been the boards over the previous three years, according to the club’s IRS filings.
The grill issue is bigger than it may seem to outsiders, reports the Star. The club offers other dining options, but the men’s grill is the only casual one.
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