North Shore Golf Fall 2016

FIRST AMONG EQUALS >>>
denial of access to the 19th hole grill
room and card room, to limits on access
of women to the golf course to unequal
application of club rules, the appellate
court upheld the findings of the
lower court.
The lower court’s injunctive relief
orders barring the club from future
discrimination were also upheld.
The club was ordered to disclose its
membership policies to the entire
membership; to create and maintain
a membership handbook; to establish
written rules governing access to the
golf course; and to have its Board of
Governors, committee chairs and all
management employees undergo
mandatory training on gender
discrimination.
Despite failing on appeal, Haverhill
continued to fight and applied to the
Supreme Judicial Court for further
review. That request was denied in
November 2003, bringing an end to
the eight-and-a-half-year journey.
“It was never about the money. In fact,
we never really talked about the money.
It was about being denied the joy that
the game of golf had given us, but was
taken away,” Borne said. “I felt that
golf is a game of honor, but these men
were defaming the game for all of us.
We all stood together to right this
wrong and I consider this to be the
finest thing I have ever done. I take
a lot of pride in standing up for my
fellow women. Couples divorced over
this suit, people were slandered, Karen
was suspended, it was all so wrong, but
ultimately we were found to be right.”
Since the decision, the plaintiffs have
gone their separate ways.
Borne resides in Yarmouth
Port. Brochetti moved to Arizona.
Richardson, a former physical
education teacher and golf coach at
Georgetown High School, still competes
on the amateur circuit. Kimball splits
time between homes in North Conway,
N.H., and Naples, Fla. Dean also spends
her winters in Naples. Johnson lives
on Cape Cod. Torrisi is the only plaintiff
who still is a Haverhill CC member.
Richardson said Cordner passed away.
Richardson has returned to Haverhill
CC several times as a guest.
“Some people were cordial, some didn’t
talk to me at all,” she said. “There were
many women who were controlled by
their husbands and thought that what
we were doing was awful, but, while it
was by no means easy, we stuck to
our guns and prevailed.”
Richardson said her husband, Chet,
was often asked why he could not
control his wife. “His response was, I
had a mind of my own and the right to
do what I felt was right,” Richardson
said. Chet Richardson was not alone;
many spouses were ostracized by fellow
members and some lost business
because of their wives’ involvement
in the lawsuit.
As the civil action played out, many
similar gender discrimination claims
were being raised by women in the
United States and abroad. Kazarosian’s
phone rang off the hook.
“I got calls from clubs every week
from lawyers and club officials who
were in the process of reviewing their
bylaws,” she said. “It was so frustrating
that things were changing at all these
other clubs except Haverhill.”
Kazarosian, who is the immediate
past president of the Massachusetts
Bar Association, also got a call from
the National Organization for Women
about a little club in Georgia.
“They wanted me to lead a lawsuit
against Augusta (National), which had
no female members,” she said.
“I declined because Georgia was one
of only five states that did not include
gender discrimination in its public
accommodation statutes, so their golf
and country clubs could pretty much
do whatever they wanted.”
The women’s story was featured on
HBO’s Real Sports and was referred
to by The New York Times in 1999
as a “landmark case.”
For Richardson, the jury verdict
and appellate court affirmation was
especially meaningful.
“Obviously, the jury felt that what
had happened to me was unjust as
I received the most damages,” she
said. “I testified for two full days,
but knowing that the jury believed me
meant something more than the money.
“All of a sudden, I’m in
front of the board wondering
what this was all about,
only to be told I was
suspended because I didn’t
do what I was told.”
~ Karen Richardson
I also got support from women at
other clubs who sent me thank-yous
for doing what we did. We would wait
to play and then some kid would come
up and get to tee it up before we could.
We felt this was the 21st century and
you just can’t do that crap to women
just because they are women. We never
once thought about quitting and we
never once thought we would lose.”
Torrisi says everything these days
at Haverhill is “fine and dandy.”
“Everything is as it should be, it’s
peaceful and we have all the things
the girls were looking for all those
years ago,” she said. “I am very
happy. ... We have a lot of new
young blood at the club, on the
board, and Haverhill is a fun place
to be. I don’t want to lose ownership
of the role we played getting to this
point, but all that is behind us and
things are wonderful.”
Haverhill Country Club did not
respond to requests for comment. l
10 >>> FALL 2016