Legal Update XVIII: Two 🆕 Lawsuits Filed Against the Club – One Appealed
May 8, 2021
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Legal Update XVIII: Two 🆕 Lawsuits Filed Against the Club – One Appealed
May 8, 2021
It has been a couple months since our last update. We were hoping for some clarity in the various legal actions in which the Club is entangled and, while clarity does not seem to be emerging, new cases have come against the Club. The Club is now engaged in four active lawsuits at the same time! Details regarding the existing and new cases, including an appeal filed by the Club after they lost, are starting to pile up. In this email, we will update you on:
This case is marching along with no end in sight. In review, the Club’s April 7, 2020 Complaint requested that the court compel former Treasurer Kennedy to return to the Club “all corporate records in his possession or control,” even though the Club already possessed many of them or it was not the Treasurer’s responsibility to retain them. By all accounts we can see, Kennedy has more than satisfied the records and accounting request reflected in the Club’s April 7, 2020 Complaint.  Therefore, the lawsuit’s only stated objective to obtain records and information was met long ago. [Read More...]
This trial was held on January 11, 2021 and had been “ripe” for a decision for three months. Finally, on April 14, 2021, the Court published their decision, a complete victory for the Borers. The Judge ordered the Club to refund the Borer’s $1,700 Membership Fee plus court costs and interest, totaling nearly $2,000. We reached out to the Borers to see if the Club has paid the judgment and if the matter is closed, but they informed us the Club has not paid. We since discovered that, on May 4, 2021, the Club filed a Notice of Appeal to the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal.
We believe the membership has reason to question the Club’s decision of compounding their mounting legal fees to prolong this saga, in part because the Club’s appeal seems almost certain to draw new scrutiny about misrepresentations by the Club’s President and attorney during the trial. We have provided a link to the certified transcript of the trial. [Read More...]
Sunwood, Inc. filed a lawsuit against the Club on February 16, 2021 in which they seek repayment of a $100,000 loan they claim to have given the Club or about September 24, 2018. Unlike the Kennedy and Borer cases, Sunwood is represented by an attorney and, on March 26, 2021, Sunwood requested the Club to produce certain documents including (1) the bank records reflecting the deposit and handling of Sunwood’s $100,000 loan, (2) Club Board meeting minutes from June 2018 to December 2020, (3) records of the purchase of N2921S, (4) any documents supporting the Club’s affirmative defense(s), and (5) any other documents the Club intended to rely upon in defending the lawsuit. On April 26, 2021, the Club filed a notice to the Court that they provided all documents responsive to items 2-4, but objected to item 1 because they claimed it was confidential (indicating that the Club apparently did have the bank records requested by the Judge in the Borer case and, as we now know, did not have to subpoena any bank to obtain them), and said item 5 would be produced pursuant to any trial order. Sunwood actually did serve a subpoena upon third-party Bank of America seeking records of the Club bank account into which their loan was deposited, so Sunwood may already have what the Club refused to provide.
We are unaware of any pending hearings in this case.
Former Club Secretary and current Club member, Paul Sanchez, filed a lawsuit against the Club on March 31, 2021 seeking to recover money he loaned the Club a few years ago and has been patiently waiting for repayment. It seems like the word is getting out: If the Club owes you money, they have no intention of repaying. You better take action now if you ever want to collect. [Read More...]
As has been previously stated, it is increasingly evident that the Club has embarked on a strategy to simply ignore all debts that do not meet their personal opinion as to how a financial obligation is created. Sadly, the Club will likely never again be able to operate with informality and verbal agreements, as it had successfully enjoyed for decades. This new breed of leaders arrived on the scene and immediately condemned such casual business practices as if their condemnation was proof of a criminal conspiracy. To the best of our knowledge, until April of last year – for over 50 years – the Club never sued any current or former members, and no current or former members had ever sued the Club. However, in the last 12 months, the Club has been dealing with five lawsuits, four involving current or former members, and is now alleged to have squandered some $50,000 from the Club’s treasury in doing so.
It is beyond us why the current Club membership is sanctioning such behavior from Club officials. Make no mistake, the Club membership has the final say in how the Club is run, and so ultimately YOU are responsible. As long as this conduct occurs and the membership takes no action, it is fair to say the membership is complicit.
Just as we were preparing to send this, we learned that Club Treasurer Andrew Bilukha has resigned and that the Board voted in a new Board member, and then “rearranged the deck chairs” of the Officers. This behavior is remarkably similar to what happened last year in March 2020, and then again in May 2020. The Officers actively campaigned for positions with terms of a year, and the membership elected them in good faith based on their pledges that they were willing and able to serve. But then, just a couple months after being elected, somebody resigned and the vacancy was immediately filled by Board vote. Just like in 2020, it was again announced that a vacancy had been both created and filled, again with no prior notice to the membership or solicitation of candidates. There are too many aspects of these events to unpack and discuss in this newsletter, but certainly enough for an informed membership to arrive at reasonable conclusions.
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