The 2020 Szabo v. South End Rowing Club Dispute

What Happened and How It Ended

In early 2020, San Francisco resident Tibor Szabo filed suit naming the South End Rowing Club (SERC), the City and County of San Francisco, and SERC officer Jim Bock as defendants. The case was removed from San Francisco Superior Court (No. CGC‑20‑582149) to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California as Szabo v. City and County of San Francisco, No. 3:20‑cv‑01041. The federal docket labels the matter “Civil Rights: Other,” and lists SERC and Bock among the defendants.

What the filings show
• Procedurally, the City removed the case to federal court on February 10, 2020; the docket reflects standard early activity (appearance filings, a motion to dismiss by the City, scheduling notices) but does not display a public, written decision on the merits. In short, what’s visible is set‑up and motion practice—not a trial or substantive judgment. Justia Dockets & Filings
• The case ended quickly. Public docket metadata indicates it was terminated on July 9, 2020, less than five months after removal. That timing, coupled with the absence of a public merits ruling, is consistent with a private, out‑of‑court resolution. PacerMonitor

What the dispute was about (as far as the public record reveals)
The freely accessible docket does not include the complaint itself, so the exact legal theories are not visible. However, two public signals are clear: (1) the “Civil Rights: Other” classification, and (2) the naming of SERC, an individual SERC officer, and the City as defendants. Given SERC’s location on City parkland and the parties named, the dispute appears to have concerned Szabo’s treatment or status vis‑à‑vis the club and local government—an access/membership‑adjacent civil‑rights quarrel rather than, say, a conventional personal‑injury claim. (That characterization is an inference from the docket’s subject tag and parties listed; the specific causes of action remain sealed behind paywalled filings.) Justia Dockets & Filings

How it was resolved
There is no public judgment awarding damages against SERC on the federal docket. The only concrete dollar figure tied to the resolution comes from a later, sworn declaration Szabo filed in a different case, where he states that the “South End Rowing Club paid me $6,500 to settle.” That statement aligns with the quick closure of the 2020 federal case and the absence of a published merits ruling. The settlement’s terms (beyond that amount) were not filed on the public federal docket. Trellis Law

Timeline (condensed)
• Feb 10, 2020 — City removes Szabo’s suit to federal court; defendants include SERC and Jim Bock; nature of suit marked “Civil Rights: Other.” Justia Dockets & Filings
• Mar 2020 — Routine early motions and notices (including a City motion to dismiss) appear on the docket. Justia Dockets & Filings
• Jul 9, 2020 — Case terminated; no publicly posted merits decision. PacerMonitor
• Later filing (separate matter) — Szabo attests SERC paid $6,500 to settle the SERC dispute. Trellis Law

What the outcome means
Practically, the case ended without a court finding SERC liable or a judge ordering relief. Instead, it concluded like many membership‑adjacent civil disputes do: through a modest, confidential settlement that closed the file and set no legal precedent. With no published order detailing terms, the public record supports only these points: who was sued, when and where the case ran, that it ended swiftly, and that the plaintiff later stated he received $6,500 from SERC to resolve it. Justia Dockets & Filings+2PacerMonitor+2