Caddie Sues Hudson National Golf Club For Discrimination: Report

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, NY — David Anderson was employed as caddie then caddie manager by the Hudson National Golf Club. Now he's suing the club, its operations director, Theron C. Harvey, and its golf director, Del Ponchock, for discrimination and harassment.

Anderson, who is diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder, said in a lawsuit that when the club leadership found out about his diagnosis, they began using it as a weapon against him, specially after he went to them to warn that the club bar continually served members who had become too intoxicated to drive.

The club in Westchester County, which is dotted with top-rated and internationally-known golf courses, opened in 1996 and became known as one of the best in the country, according to Golf Digest magazine. It costs $210,000 to join, according to Links magazine.

Anderson’s attorney, Clifford Tucker, told The Daily Beast that Hudson National used his client's disability as a basis to discriminate against him.

Anderson, 44, was hired as caddy master in 2021. In the lawsuit, he said he left a bottle of prescription medication on his desk in 2022 and Harvey and Ponchock accused him of being a drug addict. After that they repeatedly harassed and humiliated him, the suit alleges.

Then a club employee who often stayed overnight at Anderson's house on the grounds took sick and died at the hospital. According to the lawsuit, the two spread rumors about the death, "investigated" it and suspended, then fired Anderson. In the lawsuit, he said police were called to escort him off the premises and he was not allowed to go back to his residence to get belonging that included contact lenses, clothing and his golf clubs.

Anderson is also part of another lawsuit against the club filed by caddies in 2020 in federal court over wages, the Daily Beast reported.

The club's attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss that suit.