Barring a pair

[aguahombre]

Recognizing the authority of a club manager/director to exclude anyone he/she chooses from a club game in the ACBL:

 

If the game is a STAC, Unit, or higher-rated game, can said Club manager refuse to allow a player or pair in good standing with the Unit/ACBL to participate in such game?

 

Please cite.

 

No information other than provided in this post is there. No formal charges, no hygene issues, etc.

[blackshoe]

ACBL events are open to any bridge player unless otherwise restricted or the player is under discipline that prohibits participation.

ACBL General Conditions of Contest, item 1 under "Entry and Participation".

 

In theory, if you've been barred from a club, the club owner/manager is supposed to notify the ACBL of the action and the reason for it. In practice, if you walk into a club for a STaC and the owner/TD tells you to GTFO, you're probably out of luck unless you have the event's DIC on speed dial, and maybe even then. The ACBL might take some action against the club owner after the fact, but I wouldn't bet on it.

[mycroft]

The ACBL codification is a really useful tool (and I'm not just saying that because I know who put too many thankless hours into assembling it).

 

What you are looking for is Clubs, Discipline (warning, PDF).

[blackshoe]

It would appear then that a club who has barred a player for cause from regular club games can also bar him from a STaC. Of course, if the barring occurs at such a time (for example, on the day of the STaC) as to preclude the player from lodging an appeal, he's out of luck.

[aguahombre]

I read what Mycroft provided differently --that a club mgr or owner can bar whoever he wants, and doesn't really have to hold a hearing or show cause.

 

But if he wants to exclude someone from a STAC, or somesuch, at his club -- then he must have announced his action in writing to the Unit and provided the person an opportunity to appeal.

 

Am I missing something?

[blackshoe]

I read what Mycroft provided differently --that a club mgr or owner can bar whoever he wants, and doesn't really have to hold a hearing or show cause.

 

But if he wants to exclude someone from a STAC, or somesuch, at his club -- then he must have announced his action in writing to the Unit and provided the person an opportunity to appeal.

 

Am I missing something?

 

To bar a player, club management must notify the player in writing and send a copy of the notification to the ACBL Club Membership Department. The notification must include the player=s name and player number and the reason for the barring.

 

The player may then appeal to the unit if he feels the barring violates the disciplinary rules.

[bluejak]

It would appear then that a club who has barred a player for cause from regular club games can also bar him from a STaC.

What happens if he bars a player without cause, as clubs can do?

[blackshoe]

Can they? Where does it say that?

[bluejak]

It is certainly a matter of English Law, and I presume it is a matter of Law in the USA. Clubs have the right to bar anyone unless it is for reasons made illegal by other Laws. So you can ban a person for supporting Manchester United FC, or the Yankees, or for carrying a briefcase or wearing a green hat, but you cannot ban them for being black or female.

 

I do not know whether this is affected by it being a proprietary club: maybe it is, so perhaps a proprietary club needs to show cause.

[blackshoe]

I suppose you can bar a player, in the ACBL, for wearing a green hat, or supporting the Yankees. You still have to state that reason in your formal notification letter to the player and to the ACBL. Personally, I'd be embarrassed to have to 'fess up to a reason like that.

 

I do not know what the situation would be wrt a STaC. I suppose that if a player can be barred from playing in a Sectional Tournament by the Unit (the TO) for wearing a green hat, he can be barred from a STaC, but whether he can be barred by a club owner I don't know — the club owner is not the TO. I suppose it would depend on what Conditions of Contest are in place.

[hrothgar]

Here in the US, its often much easier to fire someone for no reason than for a specific reason, and lord help you if you get caught firing someone for no reason when you have a reason...