Country club scorns bid for sanction

An appeal is pending before the 7th District Court of Appeals.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Lawyers for Tippecanoe Country Club say the club should not be penalized for waiting on the outcome of an appeal before implementing policy changes.
Instead, they say, a lawyer who asked a court to sanction the club should be the one in hot water.
In July, Judge Maureen A. Cronin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court ordered the Canfield Township club to comply with a cease and desist order issued against it by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.
The commission had previously held that the club discriminated against women and should change its policies to eliminate the bias. The finding came about because four women had filed lawsuits saying their access to the golf course and other club facilities was restricted while there were no such limits on men.
Appeal pending
The club has denied the allegations and has asked the 7th District Court of Appeals to reverse Judge Cronin and the civil rights commission. That appeal is pending.
About a week ago, Atty. Alphonse A. Gerhardstein of Cincinnati, who represented the women in the lawsuit, filed a motion with Judge Cronin saying the club has failed to make required changes and asking her to impose sanctions against it. Atty. Bobbie L. Flynt filed a response this week on behalf of the club.
"The motion is completely unwarranted and frivolous and does not merit any realistic consideration," Flynt wrote. "Indeed, it is counsel for the complainants who should be sanctioned for filing such a frivolous motion." She said the appellate court now holds jurisdiction over the case since it's being appealed, so Ohio law does not give Judge Cronin authority to impose a sanction.
Flynt also wrote in her motion that Gerhardstein does not represent the OCRC, which issued the cease and desist order, so does not have legal standing to ask Judge Cronin to sanction the club.
No longer members
And last, she said, none of the women represented by Gerhardstein are still members of the club, which further undermines his ability to seek a court sanction against the club.
Based on those arguments, Flynt said, Judge Cronin should throw out Gerhardstein's motion for sanctions against the club.
bjackson@vindy.com