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Show A-6 Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, April 25-28, 2020 The Park Record LIVE LUXURY Your best life begins with a home that inspires you. Lawsuits filed against Vail Resorts, Alterra over lost season pass value Passholders didn’t get what they paid for, the suits allege TAYLOR SIENKIEWICZ Summit Daily KELLY ROGERS 435.640.7600 Global Real Estate Advisor Kelly@LuxuryParkCityRealEstate.com www.LuxuryParkCityRealEstate.com ©MMXVIII Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Sotheby’s International Realty® is a licensed trademark to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates, Inc. An Equal Opportunity Company. Each Office Is Independently Owned And Operated. Copyright© Summit Sotheby’s International Realty 2018. DILLON, Colo. — A class-action lawsuit was filed against Vail Resorts on April 10 claiming false advertising, fraud and negligent misrepresentation, among other counts, due to lost mountain resort access without pass refunds. Four days later on April 14, a similar lawsuit was filed against Alterra Mountain Co., citing that by retaining revenue generated from Ikon Pass sales, the company holds tens of millions in unjust profits as the ski areas and resorts were closed prematurely. The plaintiff in the suit DRIVE THRU AVAILABLE against Vail Resorts is Brian Hunt, a Tahoe Local passholder for the 2019-20 season. The lawsuit says Hunt was promised mountain access from October 2019 to June 2020 as long as snow continued to be on the mountain. Vail Resorts made the decision March 17 to close all North American resorts for the remainder of the season due to the new coronavirus pandemic, but the lawsuit reports that Hunt has not been refunded any part of his pass fee for lost access to Vail Resorts mountains. The lawsuit claims Hunt would “not have paid for the annual pass, or would not have paid for it on the same terms, had he known that he would not have access to any … resorts.” According to the lawsuit, the class action is on behalf of all Epic Pass holders for the 201920 season as well as those with unused days on the Epic Day Pass. There is also a subclass Hunt wishes to represent that consists of those who purchased LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press 1723 UTE BLVD., PARK CITY, UT PRICE AND PARTICIPATION MAY VARY. BECOME THE COMMUNITY THAT GROWS ITS OWN FOOD. receive the benefits that they paid for when the resorts closed in mid-March. The lawsuit gave the example of Colorado’s Winter Park Resort, which the suit says is typically open into late April or May. Jonas Jacobson, an attorney at Dovel & Luner, the law firm that filed the case against Alterra, said that while Colorado resorts were closed following an executive order from the governor, the resorts are still obligated to refund passholders. Alterra has doubled the renewal discount for the purchase of 2020-21 passes and has added “Adventure Assurance” for 2020-21 passholders to defer next season’s pass to the 202122 season for any reason, but has not made deferment or refund options available to 201920 season passholders. Jacobson said the next step in the legal process will be to ask the court to certify the class so the lawsuit can proceed as a class action. He said this could take months or up to a year. Unemployment still at record highs, but Utah claims slow Nearly 20K filed for benefits, down from about 24K ©2020 Del Taco LLC DTL-20570 these passes specifically in California as some claims reference California law. In addition to certifying the class, Hunt seeks compensatory and punitive damages to be determined by the court or jury, among other judgments. Following the closure, Vail Resorts Chief Marketing Officer Kirsten Lynch sent an email to passholders March 25 that read: “We intend to reach back out to you with more information by the end of April.” On Tuesday, Breckenridge Ski Resort spokeswoman Sara Lococo reported that the company is working on a “comprehensive approach” for passholders. The plaintiff in the lawsuit against Alterra is Robert Stephen Kramer, who is also a California resident but does not list a California subclass. The proposed class is listed simply as Ikon Pass and Ikon Base purchasers, both of which are season passes. The suit alleges that Ikon passholders did not SALT LAKE CITY — Unemployment slowed somewhat again in Utah last week, but jobless claims remained crushingly high during the coronavirus pandemic that’s dealt a body blow to the economy, state officials said Thursday. About 19,800 people filed for unemployment last week, down from more than 24,000 the week before. “We are encouraged to see another decrease in new claims filed, though we continue to receive them at record levels,” said Kevin Burt, unemployment insurance division director for the Utah Department of Workforce Services, in a statement. Average weekly claims last year were about 1,100, a small fraction of last week’s total. The state paid out more than $17 million in benefits last week and distributed $42.6 million in federal stimulus money through a program that bolsters unemployment by $600 a week. Last week was the second time since the coronavirus crisis hit that unemployment claims ticked downward from a staggering high of 33,000 three weeks ago. Though food and beverage workers took the brunt on the layoffs at first, administrative workers have formed the largest portion of the claims more recently. Nationally, new claims decreased somewhat as well, but the combined impact has left a stunning 1 in 6 American workers out of work, a level last seen during the Great Depression. More than 4.4 million new workers applied for unemployment benefits in the U.S. last week. In all, about 26 million people have now filed for jobless aid in the past five weeks. Dear Harrison, Happy first anniversary, my love. I’d heard that wedding anniversaries have themes, but I never understood why. A quick Google tells us that the origins perhaps trace back to Ancient Rome or Germany but here’s the main takeaway: the year’s theme is reflective of the progressive strengthening of the marriage. Paper is the theme for year one. It signifies that the first year is like “a clean sheet of paper, a new beginning to write your passage through the years together…also…it’s fragile and can easily rip having not been tried by the fires of adversity and the storms of life.” Dramatic much? But also, accurate. Our love story is that of the cliché millennial – together eight years before we pulled the state into it. So, you could also (loosely) say we are celebrating our 9th anniversary. That theme is Willow, “with its reaching branches, the marriage of two people is molded and shaped by their choices and experiences. Over time, something beautiful emerges.” Paper and Willow. Willow is a tree, trees make paper. You just know that I love this symbolism. They correspond but in a transformative sense, moving along a parallel timeline but in different dimensions. I had no illusion that the first year of marriage would be easy. I knew that along with the butterflies and warm fuzzies that come from being newlywed, there would also be a litany of new and unpredictable challenges and adjustments. And challenges there were, and adjustments did happen. Eight months into our marriage, we were still working out the kinks. Then you broke your knee. Two months later, we were plunging hair deep into a global pandemic. For two months now we’ve been hunkered down in our 700 sq. foot apartment. Every night we toast with our Gin and Tonics and say, “To us. Another great day in quarantine.” We specialize in: Backyard vegetable gardens that we will grow and maintain or teach you how Landscaping that is beautiful and functional Experience the difference of fresh picked produce with your family A new take on sustainable food growth oot revival 612-816-0115 rootrevival.com info@rootrevival.com I was often asked pre-wedding, “Why is marriage so important to you? You’re basically already married.” I wanted you on my team, contractually, forever. These couple months in quarantine have shown me that challenges aside, we continue to choose each another every day just like we promised each other in our vows. And in these extraordinary times, I think that should be recognized. I have no illusion that just because we have fared well so far that it will mean smooth sailing forever. But we’ve written a damn good first passage to our story and weathered some wild storms, just like the strong, resilient Willow that we are. I will continue choosing us. I love you. -Kyra |