TIPPECANOE Country club appeals ruling

The case is rooted in complaints filed by four women nearly 10 years ago.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Tippecanoe Country Club is asking an appellate court to reverse a lower court's ruling that the club discriminates against women.
Atty. Marshall D. Buck of Youngstown filed a notice of appeal this week with the 7th District Court of Appeals.
Buck says in court documents the trial court erred by failing to address the issue of whether the club is a place of public accommodation since its facilities are "not available to a substantial public."
He'll also argue in the appeal that the Ohio Civil Rights Commission ignored findings of its own hearing officer and adopted the legal arguments raised by its own legal counsel when the commission handed down a decision against the club in 2002.
The case stems from complaints filed against the club in 1996 and 1997 by four women who said their access to the golf course and other facilities was restricted, while there was no such limits on men.
Club's argument
The club argued that it is not a place of public accommodation so should be permitted to create and enforce its own rules without government interference.
Buck said an OCRC hearing officer ruled that the club is not a place of public accommodation.
"There never was any evidence that any woman member of the club was denied the right to do anything," Buck said. "There was never a woman who applied for membership who was denied."
He said wives of deceased members, who didn't join the club after their husbands died, were not afforded the same access as paying members.
But in October 2002, the commission ruled that the club does qualify as a place of public accommodation so cannot discriminate against people based on gender. It ordered the club to provide equal access to golf outings and events regardless of gender.
It also ordered the club to offer wives and widows who were associate members before 1996 an opportunity to own a share of stock.
The club appealed the decision to common pleas court, where both Magistrate Eugene Fehr and Judge Maureen A. Cronin affirmed the civil rights commission's decision.
bjackson@vindy.com