Settlement gives women equal rights

The issue appeared to be headed for the state Supreme Court.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- Women at Tippecanoe Country Club now have rights equal to those of male members.
A settlement reached late last month between the club's board of directors and the Ohio Civil Rights Commission grants those rights after a fight for them began eight years ago, said Atty. Mark Mangie, a member of the club's board.
Mangie said the settlement, reached Oct. 31, addresses the points in the original complaint. There are four terms, he said. They are:
UWomen have equal access to all club facilities. "There used to be a men's grill here, years ago," he said, and women were not allowed into it.
UWomen have equal access to golf tee times. "Before, it was preferential to the men," Mangie said.
UWomen have a right to own stock in the club -- "stock ownership was a big issue" -- and to vote. "Women could be elected to the board," he said.
UAnd women who are widowed or divorced can maintain a first-class membership without having to pay a new initiation fee.
Mangie said privately owned country clubs tend to follow more updated guidelines in dealing with gender issues, but stockholder clubs such as Tippecanoe tend be biased in favor of men.
"Most clubs still operate under the old rules," he said. But the Tippecanoe settlement now sets parameters for clubs to operate on issues of gender, he said.
Mangie addressed the monthly meeting of the club's Women's Winter Association on Tuesday, with an explanation of what the settlement will mean to the approximately 200 women club members.
"It's a very happy day for Tippecanoe Country Club," he told them. "We decided to move the club into the 21st century."
Mangie told the women at the meeting that stock will no longer be awarded to the man in a divorce. He said it will be considered a marital asset to be divided by the couple or the court.
Mangie said the club is actually going beyond a Mahoning County Common Pleas Court order by giving all women in the club the right to vote and to own stock.
He said the court order gave those rights only to women who were members at the time the complaint was filed.
History of issue
The legal battle over the gender issue began with the filing of the complaint. The civil rights commission then sent a fact finder to the club, Mangie explained. The fact finder ruled in favor of the club, but the commission overruled the decision, he said.
Mangie said the issue ended up in common pleas court because the club appealed the commission's decision there. About six months ago, the common pleas court upheld the commission's decision, and about eight weeks ago the club filed an appeal with the 7th District Court. The legal fight likely would have ended up before the Ohio Supreme Court, he said, but the appeal is being withdrawn.
Mangie said the club was still fighting the idea of letting an outside entity such as a court tell it what to do.
He said the board decided, however, that the "right thing to do was to stop ignoring 50 percent of the population."
He said that 10 years ago, such a decision might not have been possible. But there are younger men on the board today.
"We have different ideas today," he said.