At an exclusive ski and golf community for the ultra-wealthy, nestled along the Wasatch Front in Morgan County, two of the club’s earliest members allege in a new lawsuit they were pushed out after raising concerns about “unequal treatment” at a women’s golf tournament.

Jane Fields was preparing to tee up with three other members of her golf foursome on July 24, for the second day of the Wasatch Peaks Ranch Bluebird Women’s Golf Tournament.

Then, a caddy told the four women they needed to play quickly, finish early and, if needed, forfeit shots, according to a lawsuit Fields and her husband, Mark, filed this month in Utah’s 2nd District Court.

“The only plausible reason to rush the annual women’s golf tournament would be to rush the women off the course to enable an ordinary afternoon of play by the men,” the Fields allege in the lawsuit.

That didn’t happen, they say, during the club’s two annual men’s tournaments, when the course is exclusively reserved for male competitors.

Jane Fields raised concerns about the tournament with a manager. Four days later, she and her husband were “expelled” and their membership was revoked, according to the lawsuit.

The swift expulsion happened before the Fields were given a hearing with the club’s disciplinary committee, they say.

They allege it was the club’s way of concealing gender discrimination and removing members “whose criticism it no longer wished to hear.”

The couple completed one of the community’s first homes in 2024, said Larry Laycock, an attorney for the Fields, and “hoped their family would enjoy it for generations.”

Now, they’ve had to change their plans.

The Salt Lake City law firm Kirton McConkie, which Laycock is with, also serves as outside counsel to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In a written statement, a ranch spokesperson said the club disputes the allegations in the Fields’ lawsuit and is prepared to defend itself in court. The ranch declined to discuss specific details of the case, citing the privacy of its members and employees.

“We stand by our decision and remain committed to maintaining a positive and respectful environment for both our members and employees,” the statement read.

The lawsuit names Wasatch Peaks Ranch Club; its CEO Tiger Shaw, who is also the former president and CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard; members of the club’s disciplinary committee; and others the Fields allege were involved in their expulsion.

The Fields are seeking at least $30 million in damages, according to the lawsuit.

Laycock said the couple tried to resolve the dispute privately before filing the lawsuit and “remain open to a fair resolution.”

But they also intend to “hold WPR accountable, recover their financial losses and protect their home investment and contractual rights,” he said.

‘Unfair’ treatment for women

After the July golf tournament, Jane Fields was approached by a manager who greeted her and asked how the tournament went, according to the lawsuit.

The two walked together through a parking lot where — when Fields felt they were out of earshot — Fields told the manager she believed the men’s and women’s tournaments were handled differently and called the treatment “unfair, disrespectful, derogatory, and sexually discriminating,” the lawsuit says.

Fields considered the conversation private, according to the filing, but told the manager he could share her concerns with ranch management.

The ranch later characterized the exchange differently, describing it as a “public incident” at the entrance of an activity barn, the lawsuit says.

In the disciplinary committee’s notice about the couple’s expulsion, the ranch cited “abusive and profane language toward staff,” public criticism outside the club’s written-complaint procedure, “aggressive and unreasonable conduct” and behavior “unbecoming” of membership standards, the lawsuit states.

After the club’s decision, the Fields still requested a hearing and asked the ranch to provide reports supporting those accusations, the lawsuit states, but they did not receive them.

At that August hearing, the Fields say the ranch reaffirmed its decision to expel them. The couple read from prepared statements but otherwise had little opportunity, they allege, to challenge the accusations or the expulsion.

Built for the ‘1% of the 1%’

The more than 12,000-acre private ranch community is built for the “1% of the 1%,” with more than 3,000 acres of private skiing that is home to the “greatest vertical drop in Utah,” according to its website.

The property also has a championship golf course designed by renowned course architect Tom Fazio, fly-fishing along the Weber River and miles of trails for hiking, biking and exploring.

The mountain resort has gone to great lengths to maintain its mystique, offering little information about the development beyond a short website description and forms for inquiries.

Prospective members must arrive with at least two referrals, then be vetted and approved before they are even shown any real estate.

But the curtain was pulled back after county residents sued over zoning changes tied to the resort, eventually dropping the years-long case in 2024 in exchange for a 2,300-acre conservation easement and $4 million for a foundation benefiting county residents.

The Fields were among the development’s earliest members, investing substantial resources into a residence and membership at Wasatch Peaks Ranch while the community was still taking shape, the lawsuit says.

For members, part of the appeal was having that resort lifestyle — skiing, golf and other outdoor pursuits — in their backyard. But after their expulsion, the lawsuit says, the Fields could no longer access those amenities or fully use the private community where they owned a home.

Their expulsion also put their $500,000 membership deposit and contractual refund rights at risk, according to the lawsuit, and started an 18-month clock to transfer their membership.

The Fields say that deadline has forced them to pursue an expedited sale of their home, potentially at a loss in market value.

They were also removed from the club’s membership listings, the filing states, making their expulsion public.

As of Thursday, none of the defendants had filed a formal response to the lawsuit.