Hollister - A Hollister family has filed a lawsuit against Rovella's Athletic Club alleging the club's owners violated their son's civil rights by kicking him off its swim team because he refused to sign religious portions of a team agreement.
Andrew and Christine Martinez filed the complaint against Steve and Lisa Rovella in San Benito County Superior Court on Jan. 23. Gregg L. Kays, a San Jose attorney who represents the Martinez family, said California Civil Code prohibits businesses from denying services based on religion. Kays also said the Rovellas did not refund the Martinez family's swim team fees.
The family is seeking actual damages of $4,000 and an award for attorneys' fees, Kays said.
The Martinezes' son was enrolled in the athletic club's swim program in 2005. As he progressed, he was invited to join the club's competitive swim team. The Martinez family was given a team handbook to sign and return, according to the complaint.
"Plaintiffs read the handbook and felt that the religious statements contained in the handbook were inappropriate," the complaint states. "Plaintiffs struck out the several religious references in the handbook, signed the acceptance page and returned the signed page to the Rovellas."
Kays said his clients are Catholic, but object to the team handbook's religious references.
"They don't feel a swim club is the place their child should be exposed to religion," Kays said. "They didn't feel it was appropriate for what it was."
Kays would not identify the name or age of his clients' son.
After returning a copy of the handbook with the religious references crossed out, Rovella advised the Martinez family that their son would not be able to participate on the team if the handbook was not signed, according to the complaint. Rovella later told the family that he would not allow team members to cross out portions of the handbook before signing it, according to the lawsuit. When the family again refused to sign the handbook, they were told "they and their son were no longer welcome on the team and that they and their son should go 'somewhere else,'" according to the lawsuit.
Jan. 23, 2006, was the last day the Martinezes' son was allowed to practice on the swim team, according to the complaint.
Kevin Snider, chief counsel for the Pacific Justice Institute in Sacramento, who represents the Rovellas, declined Wednesday to comment on the lawsuit.
"We haven't seen the lawsuit," Snider said. "We haven't been served with it so it wouldn't be proper to comment on it."
Steve Rovella did not return telephone calls from the Free Lance seeking comment before press time on Wednesday.
Rovella's Athletic Club was the San Benito County Chamber of Commerce's service business of the year in 1999. However, the club is no longer a member of the chamber.
Stewart Katz, a Sacramento attorney who specializes in civil rights cases, said private businesses are not allowed to refuse service to customers based on their religion.
"Sounds to me like there's a good reason they're suing," Katz said. "If it's a church, it's a different thing. But it sounds like it's not."
Roland Chick, who owns TAG Paintball in Hollister and is openly Christian, said his business has legal waivers and its own set of policies with regards to safety.
"We exclude people all the time, and it's usually due to safety violations," Chick said. "As far as excluding somebody as far as their beliefs, nah."
Alan Brownstein, a professor at University of California, Davis, who teaches classes on constitutional law, and law and religion, said there are exceptions for certain nonprofit organizations to exclude individuals based on religion.
"If this athletic club is like a generic business, for profit, they may have a problem," Brownstein said.
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or mvancassell@freelancenews.com.
Michael Van Cassell Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335.
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