The city continues to deal with fallout from the Rye Golf Club’s summer closure after a group of six disgruntled club members filed a notice of intent to sue the city for membership reimbursement.
According to a notice of intent filed with the city on April 12, the six members—John and Marjorie Lyons, Mark and Silvia Lederman, and Stephen and Deborah Chapin, who are all couples—feel the club has failed to uphold “contractual obligations” to its members.
The suit relates to damage incurred to the club’s greens over the summer, resulting from the application of a tainted pesticide which forced the closure of the club for three months; the majority of the city-owned club’s peak season.
While golf club policy dictates that membership dues are strictly nonrefundable, the notice contends that incidents like those over the summer fall outside of the scope of the agreement between members and the club and should be treated differently.
According to Stephen A. Florek, the attorney representing the six plaintiffs, his clients are seeking full reimbursement for their dues but are not seeking any damages at this point.
While the firm hasn’t officially named a total sum, the dues—which Florek estimates to be about $8,500 per couple—would equate to about a $25,000 settlement, he told the Review.
According to the Rye Golf Club website, a comprehensive membership costs $5,175, which also consists of access to the club’s pool, and an individual daily golf membership costs $3,565.
According to Florek, his clients’ lawsuit could also potentially accrue more members as some others in the community have shown interest.
According to Councilman Terry McCartney, Republican, who acts as liaison to the Rye Golf Club Commission, the city currently has no intent to refund members.
“We have a strict no refund policy that everyone agrees to,” McCartney said. “If people choose to file a lawsuit we will have to defend ourselves.”
The city of Rye has offered current members discounted membership renewals for the upcoming season after settling with Tesenderlo Kerley Inc—the distributor of the fungicide, Alt-70, which was responsible for damage incurred to the course—for $2.5 million.
Members of the club who wished to renew the membership were offered a 35 percent discount rate for the 2016 season. That discounted rate expired on March 15.
The Rye Golf Club is also embroiled in another potential class action lawsuit regarding employees of a former shell company associated with the club who are seeking uncompensated overtime pay and tips.
The suit relates to a series of shell companies—most notably one under the name of RM Staffing—created by Scott Yandrasevich, the golf club’s former general manager, in order to embezzle approximately $271,000 from the club between 2007 and 2012.
As of press time, the suit—which has yet to be granted a class action status according to Alison L. Mangiatordi of the law firm Pelton Graham, which is handling the case—may seek upwards of $4 million, including damages and back wages, and has already tacked on 50 plaintiffs.
While the current suit may continue to move forward, a similar suit spearheaded by a golf club member, Donald Carbone, which threatened to become a class action, is no longer being pursued.
