Bartley v. Augusta Country Club, Inc.

• Decision Date: 19 February 1985
• Docket Number: No. 41757,41757
• Citation: 254 Ga. 144,326 S.E.2d 442
• Parties: BARTLEY v. AUGUSTA COUNTRY CLUB, INC.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

Page 442

326 S.E.2d 442

254 Ga. 144

BARTLEY v. AUGUSTA COUNTRY CLUB, INC.

No. 41757.

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Feb. 19, 1985.

Rehearing Denied March 14, 1985.

W. Barry Williams, Martinez, for James L. Bartley, Jr.

Wyckliffe A. Knox, Jr., Raymond G. Chadwick, Jr., W.M. Fulcher, Augusta, for Augusta Country Club, Inc.

MARSHALL, Presiding Justice.

The plaintiff-appellant appeals from the trial court's award of summary judgment in favor of the defendant-appellee incorporated, private, nonprofit social club, in the appellant former member's action to enjoin the club from prohibiting him from being a member of the club after the club had expelled him from membership pursuant to its bylaws for conduct "endangering the good order, welfare or character of the club."

The showing on the motion for summary judgment was that the conduct in question consisted of assisting his wife to sue the club, thereby putting its reputation and financial resources in jeopardy (see Bartley v. Augusta Country Club, 166 Ga.App. 1, 303 S.E.2d 129 (1983)); assisting his wife in preparing and distributing a letter derogatory of the club's actions; causing disruption within the club's membership by actively advocating his wife's lawsuit; making continuous complaints about the operation of the club; and becoming involved in a locker-room fracas regarding those complaints. Held:

1. Some of the appellant's claims are based on various alleged ways in which the club's action in expelling him violated his constitutional rights. "However, disciplinary actions taken by a private, social club against its members are not matters of constitutional law. Appellant's rights, if any, are governed by the by-laws, which constitute the agreement between the corporation and its members. Hornady v. Goodman, 167 Ga. 555, 572, 146 S.E. 173 [1928]; Tuttle v. Walton, 1 Ga. 43, 48-49 [1846]." Bartley v. Augusta Country Club, 166 Ga.App. 1, supra, (2). "[J]udicial inquiry into the suspension or expulsion of a member of an incorporated, private, social club is limited to a determination of whether the club has acted ' "in good faith under the by-laws adopted by it." ' Smooth Ashlar Grand Lodge v. Odom, 136 Ga.App. 812, 814, 222 S.E.2d 614 [1975] ... [T]he courts should not interfere with a club's authorized, good[-]faith exercise of discretion in disciplining members." Bartley, supra, (4). The appellant was afforded the process provided for in the by-laws, i.e., ten-days' notice and a hearing. There is no evidence that the club's action in expelling the appellant was not in good faith, nor that it was not authorized within the club's discretion under the by-law permitting expulsion for conduct "endangering the good order, welfare or character of the...