SAN FRANCISCO -- The lawsuit brought by a Nevada man who is
challenging the constitutionality of California's Seller of Travel
Law is scheduled to go to trial in Superior Court in Los Angeles
County early next year.
ARTA president John Hawks said his executive board, long opposed
to the law, will consider filing a "friend of the court" brief
supporting Girard Stewart of Incline Village, Nev., in his case
against the Travel Consumer Restitution Corp. (TCRC). "I believe
the board may jump at this opportunity now that we know there's a
trial date," Hawks said.
Stewart filed the suit last year after he was denied a refund
from TCRC, the agency set up to administer the $1.2 million fund
for state residents who lose money to California-based travel
firms. Stewart, who lost $4,400 in the Club Universe closure, is
ineligible for a refund because he lives outside California.
Stewart claims the 14th Amendment to the Constitution --
guaranteeing equal protection -- prohibits states from enacting
laws that allow them to "discriminate between its citizens and
citizens of other states."
Susan Henrichsen, deputy attorney general, is representing the
TCRC in the case. The attorney general's office declined to
comment.
TCRC board member and spokeswoman Susan Tanzman of Martin's
Travel, Los Angeles, could not be reached for comment.
But Tanzman, a lawyer as well as a travel agent, earlier told
Travel Weekly she did not think Stewart's case had merit because
states often bestow privileges to residents that are not available
to nonresidents.