Golf Caddy Sues for Gender Discrimination

According to the EEOC complaint, found on The Smoking Gun Web site, after the first match was lost, a male manager at the Tallgrass Golf Club distributed a newsletter mocking Eugene Palumbo. The EEOC said the manager subjected Palumbo to “public harassment, humiliation, and discriminatory stereotypes because of his sex.” Among other discriminatory comments in the newsletter was a suggestion that Palumbo move to a particular summer vacation spot that is know to have a large gay population, according to the complaint.

After losing the second golf match, a second newsletter with “derisive stereotypic and sex-based attacks” was distributed, the EEOC said. The complaint said the Club subjected Palumbo to a hostile work environment, with repeated taunts and insults that impeded his ability to work. In addition, the EEOC claims that when Palumbo complained, the Club not only took no action, but retaliated against him by firing him.

The claim asks that the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York forbid the defendants from engaging in any gender discrimination practices, require Tallgrass Golf Club to institute and carry out policies against gender discrimination, and provide back pay and monetary damages in an amount to be determined at trial to Palumbo.