Albright v. Southern Trace Country Club, 2003-C-3413.

• Decision Date: 06 July 2004
• Docket Number: No. 2003-C-3413.,2003-C-3413.
• Citation: 879 So.2d 121
• Parties: Merrilee G. ALBRIGHT, Julie M. Lafargue, Dolores George Lavigne, Ann Mathison McLaurin, and Jody L. Roberts v. SOUTHERN TRACE COUNTRY CLUB OF SHREVEPORT, INC. and Club Corporation of America.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

879 So.2d 121

Merrilee G. ALBRIGHT, Julie M. Lafargue, Dolores George Lavigne, Ann Mathison McLaurin, and Jody L. Roberts v. SOUTHERN TRACE COUNTRY CLUB OF SHREVEPORT, INC. and Club Corporation of America.

No. 2003-C-3413.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

July 6, 2004.

Pettiette Armand, Dunkelman, Woodley, Byrd & Cronwell, Robert A. Dunkelman, Shreveport, for applicant.

Davidson, Jones & Summers, Allison A. Jones, Shreveport, Shannon L. Hicks, for respondent.

WEIMER, Justice.¹

After carefully evaluating the facts of this particular case, we hold that women should not be excluded from dining with men in a public dining facility because such gender-based discrimination fails to pass constitutional muster under the provision of the Louisiana Bill of Rights entitled "Freedom from Discrimination."²

This year we mark the thirtieth anniversary of the enactment of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, yet the instant case presents the first time this court is called upon to evaluate the constitutional provision that adds the force of law to the aspirational goal of avoiding arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable gender-based discrimination in access to public facilities.

Four female members³ of Southern Trace Country Club of Shreveport, Inc. (Southern Trace), which is owned by Club Corporation of USA (Club Corp), filed suit against those two entities seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. Plaintiffs challenged defendants' policy of restricting to adult men only the use of a dining area known as the "Men's Grille." Plaintiffs asserted this policy was facially discriminatory and in violation of Article I, § 12 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974.

After trial on the merits, the district court ruled in favor of defendants. The court of appeal reversed, granting plaintiffs the relief sought.⁴ Upon application by defendants, we granted a writ to determine whether the court of appeal used the proper standard of review and to resolve the issue of allocation of the burden of proof in a case of this nature.⁵

Just three years previous to the adoption by the people of Louisiana of the 1974 Constitution, the United States Supreme Court, for the first time in our nation's history, ruled in favor of a woman who complained that her state had denied her the equal protection of its laws.⁶ The advances made by women during the 30 years since 1974 evidence the foresightedness of the Constitutional Convention in proposing the provision in La. Const. art. I, § 12 to assure freedom from arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable gender discrimination. For example, during that 30-year period, in 1981, the United States Supreme Court affirmed a judgment declaring the invalidity of the Louisiana law that made a husband the "head and master" of the community property and gave him the unilateral right to dispose of such property without his wife's consent.⁷

It has been acknowledged that our nation has had a long and unfortunate history of discrimination against women based on their gender.⁸ It was not until the first quarter of the twentieth century, in 1920, that women in the United States were afforded the right to vote, a major step in removing women from the category of a disadvantaged group.

Despite the constitutional prohibition enacted in 1974, this case illustrates that gender-based discrimination in access to public places has not ceased. Arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable denials of equal access to public establishments deprive those denied of personal dignity, inflicting a "stigmatizing injury" that is accompanied by a denial of equal opportunities.⁹ In evaluating plaintiffs' case against Southern Trace, this court must be cognizant of the importance to individuals and society of removing the "barriers to economic advancement and political and social integration that have historically plagued certain disadvantaged groups, including women."¹⁰ Further, those who are engaged in discriminatory practices are themselves deprived of the free exchange of different perspectives, beliefs, and ideas.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In 1984, William Harry Johnson Ramsey conceived the idea of a development consisting of a golf course, country club, and residential community in the Shreveport, Louisiana, area. Having played a considerable amount of competitive golf in his younger years, he visited from 15 to 20 clubs after the idea for Southern Trace germinated, studying the facilities to determine what he considered appropriate for the Shreveport market. He decided the market would support what he termed a "full blown" country club, which included swimming, tennis, and related facilities, instead of a golf-only club. The developers hired professional hospitality industry architects to design the facility. An interior design firm provided ratios of spaces, based on market demands, for the locker room facilities that would be built for the men as compared to the women's locker room.

Construction of the facility was completed in 1988 and Southern Trace opened for business that year. Pursuant to the plans procured by Ramsey, the clubhouse featured a food service area adjacent to but separated by a hall from the men's locker room which was named the "Men's Grille," and a smaller food service area adjacent to but separate from the ladies' locker room named the "Ladies' Card Room." Both the men's and the ladies' locker rooms primarily served golfers and tennis players. The swimming pool had separate dressing rooms some distance from the clubhouse. In 2002, the only other eating area in the clubhouse was the Azalea Grille, which was apparently a dining area for both men and women. This description of the facilities is gleaned from the testimony and the documentary evidence. Inexplicably, there is no evidence, such as pictures or drawings, which depicts the physical layout of the various areas of the clubhouse. The trial judge toured the premises, but did not describe for the record what he viewed.

At the trial of this matter, Ramsey testified the idea for the Men's Grille was to have a place where the men could have a cocktail within their "locker room environment." The men's locker room has a steam room, a hot sauna, and a Jacuzzi, as well as a shower area. According to Ramsay, a man could use the Jacuzzi, put on a towel, and then go into the Men's Grille for a beer or a sandwich; this was done "all the time." This fact was verified when Brian Walsh testified that during his tenure as general manager at Southern Trace, he observed men in the Men's Grille who were "dressed in anything from a towel to nothing to golf attire." However, there are facilities in both locker rooms where the patrons could sit and have a drink or a sandwich within the locker rooms. Ramsey described four tables in the aisle of the men's locker room where the men sit around, having a beverage or lunch or playing cards. The female plaintiffs were asked whether they were seeking admittance to the men's locker rooms and they emphatically stated they were not.

The original developers owned Southern Trace for three years before selling to Club Corp, a parent corporation that owns approximately 200 club facilities in various states. Southern Trace has remained a separate corporation from Club Corp. Southern Trace has a Board of Directors, made up of persons hired by Club Corp, which can decide such matters as enforcement of the men-only policy at the Shreveport facility. However, no member of the Board of Directors is a member of the Shreveport country club or an employee of Southern Trace. The Board of Directors differs from the Board of Governors of Southern Trace, which is made up entirely of Southern Trace dues-paying members. The Board of Governors is a body that, upon the request of the general manager, will "advise and consult"; that body has no right or power to "direct, manage, supervise, or control" Southern Trace policy. The by-laws specifically provide that Southern Trace members do not have any voice in the management of the club operation except through the Board of Governors' action as an advice and consult body. Members do not participate in new member selection. At the time of trial, Ramsey was an ex officio member of the Board of Governors.

After the sale to Club Corp, Southern Trace was operated by a general manager hired by Club Corp. During the time period pertinent to this litigation, two general managers operated Southern Trace: Ron Minkler and Brian Walsh, the latter serving since July of 2000. Minkler, who was the general manager on Sunday, March 26, 2000, the date of the incident that triggered this lawsuit, testified he enforced the policy of not allowing female members into the Men's Grille, but he had no input into the formulation of that regulation. It was a rule he inherited, but he could exercise his discretion to allow female members into the Men's Grille. Walsh testified to the numerous events that are held in the Men's Grille, when that space is made available by the management as a mixed-gender facility. The general manager makes the decision when to use the Men's Grille as a mixed-gender facility on an "as needed" basis. Walsh admitted that as manager he could have chosen not to enforce the men-only rule at all. He stated there was no reason for the policy regarding men only in the Men's Grille other than the enjoyment of the men. Although Southern Trace conducts an annual survey of its membership, at no time during Walsh's tenure as general manager of Southern Trace did he conduct a vote of the total membership to determine if it supported the men-only policy for the Men's Grille.

On April 11, 2000, five adult female residents of the Parish of Caddo filed suit against Southern Trace and Club Corp; they are Merrilee G. Albright, Julie M. Lafargue, Dolores George Lavigne, Ann Mathison McLaurin, and Jody L. Roberts. Their petition alleges that on Sunday, March 26, 2000, Lafargue along with her non-member female guest,...