The gender-discrimination lawsuit that ultimately closed the doors of Spokane (Wash.) Country Club has prompted a behind-closed-doors review of policies at private clubs in the Northwest, in which clubs are evaluating how private they are. Some facilities no longer allow outside weddings or charity events, or allow their courses to be used by high school teams in an effort to maintain their private status and avoid discrimination lawsuits.
Tremors continue within the local private club community from a ruling made in a marathon lawsuit filed in 2009 that resulted in the bankruptcy and sale of the Spokane (Wash.) Country Club, the Seattle Times reported.
What started as a gender-discrimination lawsuit by four women members ended with the club declaring bankruptcy and being sold to the Kalispel Indian Tribe. The tribe operates it as the semiprivate Kalispel Golf and Country Club, the Times reported.
At the heart of the case for other private clubs is a ruling made by Spokane County Superior Court Judge Linda Tompkins in 2011. She ruled the club was not exempt from public-accommodation provisions of state anti-discrimination laws. Usually, private-membership clubs are exempt from these laws on grounds of preserving rights of privacy and freedom of association, the Times reported.
In other words, the private club had to operate as if it were a public business and be vigilant not to offend anyone or face legal consequences. Suddenly, a club policy such as designating a block of tee times for one gender could make it a legal target on grounds of discrimination. In making the ruling, the judge cited examples of how the club had been operating in some ways as a public business to boost revenue. She noted the ease of gaining membership, that nonmembers could rent the club for weddings and other occasions, that the general public could shop in the pro shop and that college golf teams used the course, the Times reported.
“The Spokane case” has prompted a behind-closed-doors review of policies at clubs in the Northwest. “I think it has caused everybody to evaluate themselves and how private they are,” said Tom Frets, General Manager of Fairwood Golf & Country Club in Renton, Wash., who is president of the Evergreen Chapter of the Club Managers Association of America.
Frets knows of clubs that no longer do “outside weddings” (weddings with no ties to a member), “outside” charity events or allow their courses to be used by high-school teams because of the Spokane ruling, the Times reported.
One Puget Sound repercussion was the decision of the Everett Golf & Country Club to withdraw from the three-course rotation in the annual Snohomish County Amateur. The Everett club also stopped hosting high-school tournaments. Board members said they didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize the club’s private status, the Times reported.
Brad Steele, vice president and general counsel of the National Club Association in Washington, D.C., replied “absolutely” when asked if the Spokane case has been a national topic. Steele called the Spokane ruling “wide ranging,” adding that “Private clubs want to protect their private status,” the Times reported.
A Puget Sound club manager who didn’t want to be identified said no club, including those with impeccable policies, wants a judge or the government “telling you what to do,” the Times reported.
Another reason clubs have paid attention to the Spokane ruling is because private clubs are exempt from federal income tax. But if the Internal Revenue Service says too much “general-public” money is flowing in, a club can lose its tax-exempt status. The Spokane Country Club remained nonprofit for federal income-tax purposes. Still, the judge’s ruling raised a huge warning flag on policies and a smaller warning flag on tax-exempt status that other clubs were quick to notice, the Times reported.
The club, which during the 1990s reportedly had 370 golf memberships and a waiting list, was down to about 200 golf memberships when the tribe bought it, according to General Manager Bob Castle. That number is up to 230 and social memberships also have increased, the Times reported.
The tribe increased the greens crew from 10 to 30, replaced its golf-cart fleet with carts equipped with GPS, installed two full-swing golf simulators, added a fitness center and has opened a public restaurant, the 1898 Public House, at the club, the Times reported.
“We’re striving to make KGCC the best golf experience in the Northwest,” Castle said.
One of the plaintiffs, Drusilla Hieber said she and two other plaintiffs are members of the new club, even though many former SCC members “treat us as if we have leprosy.” She said the fourth plaintiff is too busy with business to make rejoining worthwhile, the Times reported.
“It is phenomenal what the tribe has accomplished,” said Hieber, who said she is delighted with the new owners. “The tribe is going to get it right—in management, membership and staff.”
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