Kiwanis Intern. v. Ridgewood Kiwanis Club
| Decision Date | 03 December 1986 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 86-5199,No. 85-4483,No. 85-4306,86-5278,85-4306,85-4483,s. 86-5199 |
| Citation | 806 F.2d 468 |
| Parties | , 1 U.S.P.Q.2d 1062 KIWANIS INTERNATIONAL, v. RIDGEWOOD KIWANIS CLUB (D.C. Civil). KIWANIS CLUB OF RIDGEWOOD, INC., and Julie Fletcher, v. KIWANIS INTERNATIONAL (D.C. Civil). Appeal of KIWANIS INTERNATIONAL. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
Donald E. Knebel (argued), Brian J. Martin, Barnes & Thornburg, Indianapolis, Ind., John F. Darcy, Thomas F. Cermack, Jr., Orbe, Nugent and Collins, Ridgewood, N.J., for appellant.
Marcia K. Baer (argued), Hirsch, Newman, Simpson & Baer, Hackensack, N.J., for appellees.
Thomas P. Ondeck, Baker and McKenzie, Washington, D.C., for amicus curiae Conference of Private Organizations.
Before ADAMS, STAPLETON and GARTH, Circuit Judges.
Kiwanis International has appealed from a district court order holding that the local Kiwanis club of Ridgewood, New Jersey (Kiwanis Ridgewood) is a place of public accommodation within the meaning of the New Jersey statute which prohibits unlawful discrimination in places of public accommodation. The district court held that Kiwanis International could not revoke the trademark license it had granted to the local Ridgewood club, because Kiwanis Ridgewood was a "place of public accommodation" and, as such, could not refuse admission to women. 1 Moreover, the district court reformed the license agreement and permitted Kiwanis Ridgewood to continue using the Kiwanis marks under the Kiwanis charter, holding that the provisions of the Kiwanis Ridgewood license which restricted Kiwanis membership to men could be severed from the whole of the license agreement. We reverse.
Appellant Kiwanis International is the parent organization of 8,200 chartered Kiwanis clubs scattered throughout the world. Kiwanis clubs number in excess of 313,000 members. The nonprofit association, founded in 1915, is incorporated in Illinois and headquartered in Indiana. The principal focus of the Kiwanis organization is community service. Club activities include fundraisers for scholarships and other charitable purposes. 2 Kiwanis is not a secret society; members do not partake in clandestine meetings or private rituals. Neither the goals nor the activities of the organization are sex-specific. Indeed, the district court found that while a "collateral benefit" of Kiwanis membership is the pleasure of camaraderie, the social aspect of the club does not supplant its charitable and civic focus. The district court further found that Kiwanis "engages in no activities in which the presence of women would create uncomfortable or embarrassing situations." Kiwanis International v. Ridgewood Kiwanis Club, 627 F.Supp. 1381, 1384 (D.N.J.1986). Moreover, the court found, "since women already participate to such a significant degree in [Kiwanis] activities ..., their full membership will not adversely affect the camaraderie or ... impede the achievement of any of the overall goals of the organization." Id. As to the effect of any change in membership on the public, the district court found that those "persons who would otherwise contribute [to the charitable functions sponsored by Kiwanis] will not cease doing so because women are members." Id.
Chartered Kiwanis clubs are bound by the constitution and bylaws of Kiwanis International. Since its formation, Kiwanis has restricted its membership to men. This restriction is contained in article V, Sec. 4(a) of the Kiwanis constitution 3 and article II, Sec. 2 of the bylaws. 4 There are several national requirements for membership, such as employment in a recognized trade or profession. Local clubs can adopt additional requirements for membership. New members are selectively chosen. Each new member must be sponsored by at least one current member and must be accepted by vote of the local club's Board of Directors.
Kiwanis International and Kiwanis Ridgewood entered into a charter agreement on November 2, 1942. Under the agreement, Kiwanis Ridgewood was allowed to use the Kiwanis marks, as long as it adhered to the organization's constitution and bylaws. The Ridgewood club currently has twenty-eight members and meets weekly for a luncheon meeting at a local restaurant. Several individuals have been members of the Ridgewood club for over twenty years. Kiwanis Ridgewood has admitted no more than twenty members over the past decade, and every applicant has been sponsored by a member of the Kiwanis Ridgewood club.
The current dispute arose when Julie Fletcher joined the Ridgewood club in June of 1984. Following her admission to Ridgewood, Ms. Fletcher's membership application and processing fee were sent to Kiwanis International; both were promptly returned. This rejection was followed by, on June 26, 1985, a letter from the Secretary of Kiwanis International stating that Ms. Fletcher's membership was in violation of the Kiwanis constitution and bylaws and that, unless Kiwanis Ridgewood cured the violation within sixty days, Kiwanis International would revoke Ridgewood's license to use the Kiwanis marks.
Kiwanis Ridgewood refused to revoke Fletcher's membership, and Kiwanis International filed suit in federal court under the Lanham Act on September 3, 1985. 5 Kiwanis International claimed that Kiwanis Ridgewood had forfeited its license to use the marks, and sought preliminary and permanent injunctions prohibiting Ridgewood's continued use. On September 6, 1985, Kiwanis Ridgewood filed suit in New Jersey Superior Court seeking an injunction against International's license revocation and a declaration that Ms. Fletcher was a bona fide member of the Ridgewood club. Kiwanis Ridgewood asserted in its complaint that the revocation would violate the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.
Kiwanis International removed Ridgewood's suit to federal court, where both parties agreed to a consolidation of their suits. Kiwanis International then filed a motion to dismiss Ridgewood's complaint on the grounds of failure to state a claim. The district court considered International's motion to dismiss and both parties' requests for injunctions in an evidentiary hearing on November 18 and 19, 1985. 6 The district court filed its opinion on February 6, 1986.
In its opinion, the district court examined each of the consolidated actions, and found that federal law did not preempt the application of New Jersey law as to either claim. Applying the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, the district court held that Kiwanis Ridgewood was a place of public accommodation and as such was prohibited from restricting membership on the basis of sex. The district court then held that Kiwanis International was precluded from enforcing its illegal discriminatory membership restrictions against Ridgewood. Finding the illegal part of the charter agreement between Kiwanis International and Kiwanis Ridgewood to be severable, the district court reformed the license agreement concluding that Kiwanis International was prohibited from revoking Kiwanis Ridgewood's trademark license just because Kiwanis Ridgewood had admitted a female member.
On March 6, 1986, final judgment was entered dismissing International's trademark action; reforming the license agreement between Kiwanis International and Kiwanis Ridgewood to reflect the severance of the illegal membership provision; and permitting Kiwanis Ridgewood to continue using the Kiwanis name and service marks. Kiwanis International timely appealed. This court's jurisdiction is found under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291.
The purpose of a public accommodations law, such as the New Jersey statute 10:5-12(f), is to ensure that publicly offered goods and services, such as those offered by a hotel or restaurant, are available to all persons regardless of sex, race, or any other protected characteristic. The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination prohibits an operator of any place of public accommodation from denying any of its accommodations, advantages, facilities or privileges on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, marital status, nationality or sex. N.J.S.A. 10:5-12(f). 7 However, to be subject to the statute's proscriptions, an organization or establishment must be a "place of public accommodation." A "place of publicaccommodation" is statutorily defined in N.J.S.A. 10:5-5(l):
1. "A place of public accommodation" shall include, but not be limited to: any tavern, roadhouse, hotel, motel, trailer camp, summer camp, day camp, or resort camp, whether for entertainment of transient guests or accommodation of those seeking health, recreation or rest; any producer, manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, retail shop, store, establishment, or concession dealing with goods or services of any kind; any restaurant, eating house, or place where food is sold for consumption on the premises; any place maintained for the sale of ice cream, ice and fruit preparations or their derivatives, soda water or confections, or where any beverages of any kind are retailed for consumption on the premises; any garage, any public conveyance operated on land or water, or in the air, any stations and terminals thereof; any bathhouse, boardwalk, or seashore accommodation; any auditorium, meeting place, or hall; any theatre, motion-picture house, music hall, roof garden, skating rink, swimming pool, amusement and recreation park, fair, bowling alley, gymnasium, shooting gallery, billiard and pool parlor, or other place of amusement; any comfort station; any dispensary, clinic or hospital; any public library; any kindergarten, primary or secondary school, trade or business school, high school, academy, college and university, or any educational institution under the supervision of the State Board of Education, or the Commissioner of Education of the State of New Jersey. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to include or to apply to any institution, bona...
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