Lahmann v. Grand Aerie of Fraternal Order of Eagles10/12/2005
matters.
In 1995, the Grand Tribunal of the Eagles, a branch of the national organization charged with interpreting the Eagles' constitution, issued an opinion stating that "the use of the word 'male' in [the membership requirement] is not consistent with prevailing civil law." As a result, the Willamette aerie, along with many others, admitted some women to membership. That practice, however, was short lived. In 1998, the Grand Aerie rejected a proposal to abandon the male-only requirement for aerie membership, and the Grand Tribunal withdrew its opinion concerning the male-only requirement. Since then, the Grand Aerie has not permitted local aeries to accept membership applications from women, and the Willamette aerie has followed that policy.
The Willamette aerie has an auxiliary. The two groups share a lodge, which features a bar, dining facilities, a dance floor, and meeting rooms. In 1999, plaintiff, a member of the Willamette auxiliary, applied for membership in the Willamette aerie, but her application was rejected on the basis of her gender. Thereafter, plaintiff (and two other rejected female applicants who have since voluntarily dismissed their claims) initiated this action under the Public Accommodations Act against the national, state, and local aeries, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief.
The relevant parts of the act areORS 30.670 and ORS 30.675. ORS 30.670 stated:
"All persons within the jurisdiction of this state shall be entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities and privileges of any place of public accommodation, without any distinction, discrimination or restriction on account of race, religion, sex, marital status, color or national origin."
ORS 30.675 defined the phrase "place of public accommodation":
"(1) A place of public accommodation, subject to the exclusion in subsection (2) of this section, means any place or service offering to the public accommodations, advantages, facilities or privileges whether in the nature of goods, services, lodgings, amusements or otherwise.
"(2) However, a place of public accommodation does not include any institution, bona fide club or place of accommodation which is in its nature distinctly private."
On cross-motions for summary judgment, the trial court denied defendants' motion and granted plaintiffs', ruling that the organization is a "place of public accommodation" because it emphasizes recruitment, offers its services to the public, and is unselective in recruiting except for its rule against admitting women to aeries. The Eagles appealed, arguing that the trial court's understanding of "place of public accommodation" was too expansive. Lahmann I, 180 Or App at 424. According to the Eagles, the act did not apply to fraternal organizations. As noted, we rejected that position and explained that "the question whether an organization i
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