Pine Valley Golf Club, a prestigious, 700-member golf club in Camden County, which was established more than a century ago but only began accepting female members last springis facing a civil rights complaint alleging the management of membership along with a long history of gender-based discrimination in recruitment and other practices.
Acting Attorney General of New Jersey Matthew J. platkin Complaint filed on Wednesday against the club, outlining a long history of the “world famous” club for allegedly violating the state’s anti-discrimination law.
The law “prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in places of housing, employment and public accommodation, including gender, gender identity and gender expression, among other protected characteristics.”
“New Jersey will not tolerate policies or practices that discriminate on the basis of gender, including those that perpetuate the effects of past discrimination,” said Rosemary DiSavino, deputy director of the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights, who filed a complaint with Platkin.
The complaint argues that the club was a place of public housing due to a unique setup where the club owned all of the land in the borough of Pine Valley – which In January consolidation became a part of the Borough of Pine Hill.,
All Pine Valley residents and municipal commissioners said the complaint lived on club property and had some connection to the club through direct membership, relatives who were members, or work from the club. Without the club, the city would have “virtually no revenue and no residents.”
“As a result, the club effectively controlled the borough, and the club was the primary recipient of the services and benefits provided by the borough,” the complaint reads.
The complaint alleges that because the club was so involved with the city, setting tax rates and much more, the club was not “distinctly private”.
A club representative was not immediately available for comment.
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