Smithtown Landing Golf and Country Club is in the middle of a class-action lawsuit brought upon by an area golfer who alleges the municipal course has been overcharging fees for golf and motor carts, according to Newsday.
In the class-action suit filed on behalf of "at minimum hundreds" of Smithtown Landing golfers, Robert Dwyer of Smithtown contends that head professional and director Michael Hebron "has systematically charged plaintiffs at rates in excess of the rates authorized and agreed upon by defendants for the use of the golf course and for cart rentals," according to court filings quoted by Newsday. Hebron is a member of the PGA Hall of Fame.
Dwyer realized he was being overcharged when he obtained a copy of Hebron’s contract with the town, which includes fee schedules for course access and cart rentals, said his lawyer, Michael Schulman of Melville, though the full amount of excess fees is still unclear.
“We don’t know the actual amount because it’s a class action lawsuit,” Schulman said. “Thousands of hours and thousands of golfers were involved. Everyone was overcharged a couple of bucks at a minimum.”
The suit seeks to “recover all previous payments made in excess of the rates authorized and agreed upon,” legal fees, and an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages, according to the filing.
The town of Smithtown is also named in the lawsuit because of Dwyer’s belief that “Smithtown permitted and/or failed to prevent the plaintiffs from being charged” at higher rates. -- Sophia Chang, Newsday, 4/21/2016
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