A Superior Court jury, comprised of seven men and seven women, awarded nearly $2 million dollars in damages to nine female golfers who claimed that they were discriminated against because of their gender at the Haverhill Country Club. In addition to being given poor tee times, the women claimed that the club denied them fair opportunity to attain the club’s most coveted “primary memberships,” which come with better benefits.
Although the club began offering primary memberships to women in 1992, the women claimed that the club directors manipulated the waiting list. “I think it’s a case which puts country clubs and other institutions on notice that women have a right to the same opportunities as men,” said assistant attorney general Anthony Rodriguez, who represented the plaintiffs.
