The son of a late Los Angeles millionaire is suing one of the city’s most exclusive golf clubs, claiming his wife and their children were denied membership because they were Hispanic, according to a new lawsuit. There is.
Matthew Winnick, a 42-year-old Jewish man, was denied membership at the private Hillcrest Country Club, a historically Jewish organization, because of his family’s “Hispanic heritage,” according to the complaint. The lawsuit alleges that the government discriminated against the family. Obtained by Los Angeles Times.
“Hillcrest is a racial aristocracy receiving subsidies from the city,” the lawsuit alleges.
Winnick’s lawyers, his brother Alexander Winnick and Anthony Trujillo, accused the golf club of nepotism and shielding its 500 members from Los Angeles’ racial diversity.
Hillcrest’s lawyers dismissed the lawsuit as “completely without merit,” according to the Times.
The Winnicks are the sons of late billionaire Gary Winnick, who made his fortune during the 1990s dot-com boom and rose to become one of Los Angeles’ wealthiest residents.
Gary Winnick is a longtime member of the golf club, whose members include Hollywood heavyweights, iconic celebrities, and Kamala Harris’ vice-presidential husband Doug Emhoff.
“The late Gary Winnick, a long-time member, regularly appeared at the ‘racist’ club until his death,” Brian Friedman, an attorney for Hillcrest President Jason Kaplan, told the Times in an email. Told. Winnix asked the club to host a memorial service for his father.
“It seems to me…what’s really upsetting them? [Matthew and Alex] “Despite the alleged cronyism policy, they were not able to enter Hillcrest,” he added.
Winnick’s lawsuit alleges that the club violates California civil rights law as well as a Los Angeles ordinance that prohibits discrimination in establishments that accept money from non-members, according to the LA Times.
He claims he was granted access to the club as an interim member over a number of years and paid for it. He applied for full membership in February 2023, fulfilling all of Hillcrest’s requirements: 100 hours of community service, donating 5% of available cash flow to charity, and being considered a moral and good citizen. said.
The next month, Winnick claims Kaplan, who was known to the family, yelled at his wife and children, “Color rate!” — “Shut up” in Spanish — at a birthday party.
Winnick said Kaplan then asked her, “Are you trying to mess with me?” Winnick said, according to the complaint.
According to the Times, the lawsuit accuses Kaplan of making “racist comments” and committing unspecified sexual assaults, but the documents do not provide further details. The lawsuit also names former club president Michael Fresh and board member Brad Fuller, a well-known Hollywood producer.
Winnick wrote a letter in April expressing concerns about racial discrimination in Hillcrest’s application for membership directorship. On May 1, he was told his application had been rejected.
Winnick contends that Hillcrest maintains an overwhelmingly white membership while paying unusually low property taxes. According to the paper, the tax would otherwise be about $70 million a year, but only about $250,000.
“There is a group of people running Hillcrest as a personal fiefdom in violation of fundamental principles of fairness and equity,” Alex Winnick said in a statement to the Times. “Change is too slow.”
According to the paper, the three defendants named themselves in a plan to file a retaliatory lawsuit against malicious prosecution.
