The Erin District Lions Club has reached a settlement with two former town residents denied entry into a club event in 2009.
Mary Traversy and her sister Sarah filed a complaint with the province’s Human Rights Tribunal after they were denied access to the Lions Club’s annual fundraiser at Centre 2000.
A hearing was scheduled for earlier this week, but a couple of weeks ago the women and the club reached a settlement. Neither side wished to reveal the amount of the cash payment, despite the lack of a confidentiality clause.
Club treasurer Don Covert said club officials made the decision to settle to avoid major legal fees that could cripple the club.
“It was going to be too expensive for the club to proceed,” Covert said. He acknowledged the club “unintentionally broke the law” by denying the women entry based on their gender.
The fundraiser, as it had for the previous 40 years or so, featured exotic dancers and thus the club decided it should be a men-only event.
“What we did was completely legal. The only thing we did wrong was deny them entry,” Covert said.
“Other than that, we did nothing wrong. We could, if we wanted to, continue to have that type of entertainment, but as a club we’ve decide not to.”
Norm Traversy spoke on behalf of his daughters, who no longer reside in Erin. He said Mary and Sarah are not “prudes,” and the strippers at the event never played a factor in their decision to pursue the matter with the Human Rights Tribunal.
“The issue was never their disapproval of having that type of entertainment … it’s a matter of them upholding their human rights,” Traversy said.
Over the last three years, the issue has caused a lot of controversy, with the Traversy family saying they were ostracized in the community and Lions Club supporters accusing the women of trying to cause trouble.
Covert said the women could have come to the club to discuss the issue or even gone directly to a local Newspaper, but they instead chose to file a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal.
Traversy admitted in 2009 that his daughters attended the party to confirm a rumour they heard the previous year that the annual fundraiser was closed to women.
But on Tuesday he told the Advertiser it’s “nobody’s business” what prompted the women to visit the event.
“They’ve got every right to buy a ticket,” he said. “When you see something like that going on, you have to challenge it. You can’t let things like that slide.”
Traversy refused to say whether or not his daughters would consider donating any of their settlement back to the community.
“That’s their business,” he said. “We’ve put money into this community for years – for decades.”
Traversy said he is very proud of his daughters for having the “courage” to stand up for their rights.
“I’m very proud of them. They did the right thing … what they did made a difference for the better,” he said.
But Lions Club members still don’t see it that way.
“Attacking a Lions Club does so much good for the community,” member Bob McEnery said sarcastically.
Covert said club members still feel the issue has been blown way out of proportion by the Traversys and the media; particularly a daily Newspaper based in Guelph.
“Fortunately, we’ve got a lot of support from individuals and groups locally,” Covert said.
Regardless, both sides in the matter are pleased to put the issue to rest.
“It shouldn’t have taken the Lions Club 30 years to realize they were breaking the law,” Traversy said, adding, “if people don’t uphold their rights, they’ll lose them.”
Covert said the club looks forward to returning its attention towards helping the community.
“We’d rather spend our money on a worthwhile cause,” he said.
