Pompano Senior Squadron Flying Club, Inc. vs Carl L. Kennedy, II

17^th Judicial Circuit Court, Broward County, Florida
Case No. CACE20005993
— Filed April 7, 2020 — Dismissed September 14, 2023 —

Carl Kennedy was elected to Club Treasurer to fill a mid-year vacancy in 2014 and was subsequently elected to five successive terms by the membership.

Carl decided not to run for re-election in February 2020, so his term ended on February 12, 2020 with the election of his successor, Andrew Bilukha. During a membership meeting on March 11, 2020, despite Carl’s public commitment to work with the Club and help the new leadership with continuity, Carl was subjected to repeated disrespectful personal attacks from Mr. Bilukha and others in the newly elected Club leadership. For example, Mr. Bilukha shared aloud at this meeting that somebody had recently flown a Club aircraft but did not fill out a ticket, and so the Club was “just going to have to eat” the non-payment. Carl offered aloud, unsolicited, that he could easily determine who flew the aircraft via Schedule Master, and thus assist the Club in billing this person. But the new Club leadership was so eager in their zeal to demean Carl during that meeting that they just talked over Carl and moved on to other matters.

Just eight days later, on March 19, 2020, Edward Holodak Esq., an attorney retained by the Club, sent Carl a Demand Letter by Certified Mail giving him five days to return what the Club claimed was their property that Carl allegedly had no right to keep. Despite the fact the Club’s Treasurer has never been the custodian of all Club records (the By-Laws assign that role to the Secretary), the Club claimed that Carl had no right to possess copies of the Articles of Incorporation, By-Laws, and meeting minutes. They made this outrageous claim in spite of the fact that all members – not just Carl – have a statutory right to inspect, copy, and possess these documents.

Less than three weeks later, after Carl apparently did not respond to their satisfaction, the Club sued Carl in Broward County Circuit Court. It’s impossible to know how many thousands of dollars the Club has already spent on attorney’s fees alone to pursue what appears to be nothing more than a personal vendetta, but there have been dozens of filings in the case already and seemingly more billable hours still to come before any trial. Club members should, at the very least, receive regular updates about such litigation, to include the issues in dispute, and financial statements showing the expenses already incurred and projected for what could end up being a terribly ill-advised misadventure. Even if your natural inclination with respect to the Club is just to fly and be left alone, there are serious implications that demand attention. The Club’s shareholders, the dues-paying members, should to take immediate notice and corrective actions before this new leadership runs the Club into the ground with legal costs alone.

On July 9, 2021, the Court published its Order Disqualifying Wendy Hausmann as counsel for Carl L. Kennedy.

On July 27, 2021, an attorney, Ron Renzy, filed a Petition for Certiorari at the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal, apparently representing Ms. Hausmann, appealing the Disqualification Order. Although the actual documents filed in the Court of Appeal are not available online, the Broward County Court filed an Acknowledgment of New Case in the Court of Appeal on the same day it was filed there. We will attempt to add documents from the docket in the Appeal Court, but you should be able to follow the appeal docket directly. On November 4, 2021, Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal effectively denied the appeal, meaning that the Disqualification Order was sustained.

Broward County Court