Lawsuits threaten swim club’s existence

Philadelphia Inquirer

HUNTINGDON, Pa. — Racial- discrimination lawsuits against a private swimming club over its revoked contract with a Philadelphia day camp could cost enough to threaten the Valley Club’s existence.

Attorneys, club members, and tax records indicated that a pair of federal-court lawsuits — one filed, one promised — could cost the club more money than it has and possibly leave board members liable for civil-rights verdicts.

“The only asset we have is the land, which housing developers have been trying to buy for years,” said Bonnie Bacich, a Valley Club member for 30 years.

The club has been targeted for how it treated 65 children who traveled with the Creative Steps Inc. day camp to the Valley Club on June 29. The children said they heard racial comments by club members who left the pool when they arrived. The club later refunded money paid by Creative Steps and revoked its summer swimming contract.

The club also ended contracts with two other day camps, but neither has protested the matter. The Valley Club says all the contracts were ended because of safety issues from overcrowding, not racial prejudice.