US District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor ruled on May 31 that Bob Lobel, a former sportscaster for WBZ-TV in Boston, doesn’t have any legal right to use a special golf cart around the greens on the Auburndale, Mass., golf course, because the club “has all the basic characteristics of a private club,” and is not subject to the Americans With Disabilities Act.
US District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor ruled on May 31 that longtime Boston broadcaster Bob Lobel doesn’t have any legal right to use a special golf cart around the greens at the Woodland Golf Club in Auburndale, Mass., the Boston Globe reported.
Saylor ruled that Woodland “has all the basic characteristics of a private club, including genuine selectivity of membership and exclusion of non-members from regular or indiscriminate use of its facilities,” and thus is not subject to the requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Globe reported.
Lobel, who in recent years has been beset by health issues that make walking difficult, had filed a discrimination lawsuit against Woodland in 2015 after he was barred from taking a special cart onto the club’s putting greens. Arguing that the ban violated federal and state protections for the handicapped, Lobel was seeking $250,000 in compensatory damages, unspecified punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, and an order barring Woodland from further alleged acts of discrimination, the Globe reported.
But the club, where Lobel played as a member’s guest, countered that the adaptive cart could do serious, costly damage to the Auburndale course, the Globe reported.
“The undisputed material facts demonstrate that Woodland exercises genuine selectivity in the admission of its members; that its members control its operations; that it does not actively solicit new members from the general public through public advertising; and that non-members are not permitted regular or indiscriminate use of the facilities,” Saylor wrote. “All of those factors, taken together, weigh heavily in favor of a finding that Woodland is a private club within the meaning of the ADA. The Court concludes that Woodland is a ‘private club’ and that it is therefore exempt from the requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Woodland is accordingly entitled to summary judgment in its favor.”
Lobel’s attorney, Michael Longo of Jeffrey Denner Associates, said his client plans to appeal. “Basically, we disagree with the judge’s decision and how he applied the law, and we’re going to appeal,” Longo said.
Woodland Golf Club did not immediately return a phone call from the Globe.
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