Club Wins Court Judgment in Golf Cart-ADA Dispute With Member – Sportico.com

Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

The U.S. Supreme Court has famously ruled that using a cart as a reasonable accommodation for pro golfers with a qualified disability is acceptable. A recent ruling from the Court of Appeal of California has examined whether a golfer with a qualified disability can drive their cart to wherever the ball lands on the course.

Last week, the California Court of Appeal upheld a trial court victory for Marbella Golf and Country Club in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. Club member Jefferey Lurner filed a lawsuit against Marbella’s owners in 2018, arguing that they violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to accommodate his disability and denying him full and equal enjoyment of the course. A few years later, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Marbella, and Lurner appealed.

The case provides insight into how a private country club operates in the complex and litigious world of disability law. After joining Marbella in 2010, Lurner was diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), which makes it difficult for him to walk, especially uphill. Marbella’s course features many hills, inclines, and elevation changes. However, the club refused to allow Lurner’s cart to be driven wherever his ball lands, citing their rules designed to promote safety and prevent property damage.

Lurner and the club had disagreements on how far Lurner should be able to deviate from club policy while driving his cart. Lurner argued that he was continuously harassed by club members for driving his cart to his ball as required by his disability. However, Justice Maurice Sanchez explained that Marbella largely accommodated Lurner’s preferences while noting some of Lurner’s confrontations with other golfers and dangerous behavior while driving the cart.

Sanchez reasoned that Marbella provided a reasonable modification of its cart policy by allowing Lurner to drive his cart wherever he needed to on the golf course and adopted a de facto dispute resolution policy for addressing complaints by other members. This suggests that golf courses that permit golfers with qualified disabilities to enjoy expanded course access on a cart will likely satisfy the ADA.