Small Claims Court, North Regional Courthouse, Broward County, Florida
Case Number is CONO20010538
— Complaint filed July 16, 2020 —
— Confidential Settlement Filed Under Seal December 9, 2020 —
— Confidential Settlement ($1,500 to Plaintiff) Unsealed January 14, 2022 —
CLAIM for Refund of Graham Hill’s $1,700 Deposit
Pompano Beach resident Lloyd Hill and his son Graham completed applications to the Club on November 30, 2018, and Lloyd tendered the $1,700 refundable deposit for Graham’s membership the next day, December 1, 2018. Graham was an aspiring student pilot and Lloyd, being a pilot and CFI himself, thought that Graham’s membership in the Club would be a convenient way for Graham to get his Private Pilot License and build flying experience. Lloyd wanted to avoid the perils of teaching a family member, but he still wanted to be able to monitor Graham’s flying proficiency, as well as participate in Graham’s flying pursuits as a “father/son adventure,” so he completed a Club flight check to be approved as a Club flight instructor on December 3, 2018. However, Lloyd soon discovered that he was unable to find a Club-approved instructor who had the time or inclination to instruct a zero-time student, so he and Graham ended up going elsewhere for Graham’s flight training.
In November 2019, with Graham’s Private Pilot License in his pocket, the pair returned to the Club. Over the next several months, a series of disappointing events caused both Lloyd and Graham to sour on the Club. In an email and letter sent by Certified Mail on May 29, 2020, Lloyd informed the Club Treasurer, Andrew Bilukha, that Graham was resigning his membership and that the Club needed to return the $1,700 refundable deposit that Lloyd had tendered a year and a half earlier. Despite the demand for return of the refundable deposit, the Club has been almost entirely unresponsive.
Reimbursement for Costs of Lloyd Hill’s Approval as Club Instructor
After returning to active flying within the Club in November 2019, Lloyd and Graham coordinated their own schedules to fly with each other but it was never easy. For example, on Monday night, May 11, 2020, Lloyd checked the Club’s online “Schedule Master” system and confirmed that Piper Warrior N81250, which Graham had reserved several days earlier, was still showing as available to fly the next day. The next day, Tuesday, May 12, 2020, Lloyd and Graham arrived to fly N81250, but the plane was nowhere to be found. They later learned that it had been taken offline without any notice. Lloyd and Graham had endured similar scheduling problems in the preceding weeks but, when asked about them, the Club always tried to claim they were due to “glitches” in the software. That same afternoon of this latest “glitch,” May 12, 2020, Lloyd emailed Club officers about that day’s SNAFU. That night, instead of sending his regrets and offer some form of accommodation, the Club President, Gregory Gilhooly, sent an email to Lloyd rescinding his standing as a Club-approved instructor – effective immediately – without stating any rationale or providing “just cause.” Thus, it seems clear that Mr. Gilhooly acted in bad faith and was motivated by malice, spite, and angry retaliation. As such, Lloyd has sought reimbursement for his costs in obtaining approval as a Club instructor.
Summary
On July 16, 2020, more than a month after Lloyd and Graham sent their final demand reminder to the Club, and having received no communication or refund from the Club, Lloyd and Graham sued the Club in Small Claims Court to recover what they are rightfully due. The Club engaged an attorney, Edward Holodak, Esq., to represent them. Within days of being served, the Club filed a Motion to Dismiss the lawsuit based in part on a technicality: They claimed the suit was defective because the Hills had not attached the Club’s By-Laws to their Complaint. The Club apparently forgot they had just claimed, in a March 19, 2020 letter, that no member was allowed to possess the By-Laws. This kind of behavior suggests the current Club leadership will say and do whatever they want, even if it conflicts with what they just said and also conflicts with their rules, policies, and financial obligations.
Instead of fulfilling the Club’s published commitment to fully refund the $1,700 deposit, the Club has instead engaged an attorney who seems more than happy to rack up the billable hours by engaging in duplicitous legal shenanigans at the direct expense to the members who will end up seeing their dues money flood out the hangar doors to pay far more in legal fees than they would if the leadership had just disbursed what the Club rightfully owes.
This case WAS closed pursuant to an Agreed Order of Dismissal with Prejudice filed on December 9, 2020 that included the confidential filing of some settlement terms under seal. However, on November 6, 2021, the Hills filed a Motion to Unseal the confidential document because, they alleged, the Club’s attorney breached the confidentiality. On January 14, 2022, the Judge signed an Agreed Order to unseal the Confidential Statement, which required the Club to pay the Hill’s $1,500, virtually the entire amount sought in the complaint.The complete docket is available below, but you can visit the Court’s web site to see the official case docket.