Elite N.J. golf course unlawfully discriminated against women, state says – New Jersey Monitor

An unique golf membership in Camden County banned ladies from changing into members, restricted their entry to amenities and the golf course, and forbade them from leasing or shopping for homes on membership land until they did so with a person, in line with a civil rights criticism the New Jersey Legal professional Normal’s Workplace filed Wednesday.

The Pine Valley Golf Membership additionally employed principally males — with simply six ladies on its 159-person employees as of July 2020 — and relegated these ladies primarily to the laundry and luncheonette, in line with the criticism.

All of these practices violate the state’s anti-discrimination legislation, the criticism expenses.

The Pine Valley Golf Membership is thought to be one of the crucial picturesque and unique golf golf equipment within the nation. Golf Digest ranked it first in its 2021 checklist of America’s 100 best golf programs.

The membership’s basic supervisor, Charlie Raudenbush, didn’t reply to a request for remark. However the membership informed the Legal professional Normal’s Workplace it lifted all gender restrictions on membership and amenities by final spring, after the workplace’s civil rights division started investigating.

Nonetheless, the 108-year-old membership had such an “in depth historical past” of gender discrimination that “a legacy of inequality” lingers immediately, the workplace mentioned.

Girls stay a rarity on the membership, with simply three of its 700 members feminine as of final July, the workplace mentioned. And whereas membership officers say they not limit property leases by gender, in addition they have mentioned they received’t enter any new leases for the 19 personal dwellings on club-owned land, successfully locking ladies out, the workplace mentioned.

“Gender-based discrimination has no place in New Jersey, interval,” performing Legal professional Normal Matthew J. Platkin mentioned in a press release.

State legislation prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, and locations of public lodging. The membership’s gender-based practices impacted all three of these areas, in line with the criticism.

The Pine Valley Golf Membership is personal however has a “deeply intertwined” historical past with the previous borough of Pine Valley and so traditionally has been a spot of public lodging, the criticism says. That borough merged into the neighboring borough of Pine Hill earlier this yr, however the membership owned all land in Pine Valley and was the first recipient of providers and advantages offered by its authorities, in line with the criticism.

The criticism cites two different membership insurance policies Platkin’s workplace mentioned are discriminatory: The membership prohibited males from sporting earrings and forbade staff from discussing their pay in violation of the Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act. 

If the Division on Civil Rights determines the membership broke the state anti-discrimination legislation, it may well order the membership to make modifications and pay compensatory damages.

The membership’s gross annual receipts, annual income, and internet belongings every exceed $10 million, in line with the civil rights criticism.

Former President Donald Trump owns a golf membership in the identical city, a number of miles away, known as the Trump Nationwide Golf Membership Philadelphia. Golf Digest ranked it twentieth.