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LPGA Rescinds English-Only Suspension Policy

By Rick Karcher, Michael McCann, Geoffrey Rapp, Greg Skidmore, and Howard Wasserman

Today, the LPGA announced that it would revise its English only language policy to eradicate the draconian consequence of suspension, as reported here earlier this week. According to LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens, the LPGA was enlightened by the serious criticism it came under after announcing its policy. Commissioner Bivens acknowledged that the LPGA had received some "valuable feedback from a variety of constituents" and based on that feedback, the LPGA decided to rescind the penalty provisions requiring suspension if its players failed an oral English evaluation in 2009.

Bivens stated that "After hearing the concerns, we believe there are other ways to achieve our shared objective of supporting and enhancing the business opportunities for every Tour player. In that spirit, we will continue communicating with our diverse Tour players to develop a better alternative. The LPGA will announce a revised approach, absent playing penalties, by the end of 2008.''

While acknowledging making a racially discriminatory and ethnically tinged mistake does not dismiss the insensitive adoption of the policy, the LPGA at least deserves some credit for recognizing that it had crossed the line and now seeks to rectify its error.

Full post as published by Sports Law Blog on September 05, 2008 (boomark / email).