Opinion ID: 902845
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Administrative Complaint and Aftermath

Text: Frustrated by the response to her concerns, Joyce filed a pro se complaint in July 2007 with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) against the Town of Dennis and Canevazzi. After the filing, an attorney representing the Town, Kristin Harris, called Joyce twice and left messages asking her to call to discuss the dispute. Joyce did not respond. She also did not respond to a letter Harris sent her referencing the MCAD's mediation process, though Joyce asked the Commission if she was obliged to talk to the Town and was advised to wait until the Town filed its position statement.5 The GAC again acted on the gender policy at its October 2007 meeting. After Horvath reported that the United States Golfing Association (USGA) allows women to play in all events as long as they play exactly the same as a man, the GAC voted unanimously to instruct the Tournament Committee to follow the USGA rules for all 2008 tournaments. This was the tournament policy that Joyce originally had sought, allowing women to play alongside men.6 Although no general announcement of the change in policy was 5 Canevazzi testified that after receiving the MCAD complaint he instructed the Town's attorney to try to schedule mediation, which he understood to be the MCAD's recommendation. 6 Joyce asserts that no change in policy in fact was adopted in October 2007, but the record does not support that contention. We agree with the district court that the record, consisting of deposition and trial testimony and exhibits, can only reasonably be read to show that the GAC at its October 22 meeting formally -8- communicated to members,7 the 2008 Tournament Information Packet included a statement (which did not appear in the 2007 Packet) advising that [a]ll tournaments will follow USGA guidelines for participation.8 Canevazzi acknowledged that he would not have understood from that statement that a change in gender policy had occurred, although -- in another revision of the 2007 Packet -- the 2008 tournament schedule eliminated the gender labels in the listings of members-only tournaments. The Town filed its MCAD position statement on November 2, 2007, without mentioning the October vote. Canevazzi, who signed the document, testified that the statement had been prepared weeks earlier, and he had failed to realize that it did not reflect the October meeting when he signed it. The MCAD statement denied that the facts showed discrimination of any kind, and noted that once agreed to allow women to play in men's tournaments, as Joyce had originally requested. Joyce v. Town of Dennis, 705 F. Supp. 2d 74, 79 (D. Mass. 2010); see also Joyce v. Town of Dennis, 802 F. Supp. 2d 285, 290 (D. Mass. 2011) (noting that defendants changed the tournament policy before Joyce filed her complaint). 7 Eric Oman, GAC chair in October 2007, testified about an email announcement sent by the assistant director of golf in April 2008 to some members of the Town's golf clubs restat[ing] the change in policy adopted by the Town of Dennis golf courses on October 22, 2007. The announcement stated that [a]ll men's golf tournaments are open to women competitors. Joyce testified that the announcement also was posted on the men's bulletin board and, at least as of 2009, on the website -- which we presume to mean t h e D e n n i s G o l f w e b s i t e . S e e http://www.dennisgolf.com/guidelines.php. 8 The statement was added, in bold type, at the top of a list of General Tournament Information. -9- the Complainant's concern was brought to the Respondents' attention, the Respondents[] immediately evaluated the tournament schedule with the Golf Advisory Committee and agreed to modify the schedule, such that all tournaments would include a men's and women's division beginning in 2008. Joyce then hired an attorney, who filed a rebuttal to the defendants' statement in early January 2008. After receiving the rebuttal, Harris, the Town's attorney, placed a call to Joyce's attorney and left a message requesting an opportunity to discuss the matter. Joyce's attorney later reported that she was unaware of that message.