Bank doesn't have to pay Black Rock members

The jury in a $27 million class-action suit against Washington Trust Bank reached a verdict Monday in favor of the bank.

The suit, filed on behalf of members of the former luxury golf Club at Black Rock, sought to recover damages equal to club membership deposits members paid when they purchased property surrounding the golf course.

Roughly 300 former members named in the suit paid membership deposits as large as $125,000 each.

Washington Trust Bank obtained the property from developer Marshall Chesrown in August 2010 after it fell into financial distress. The club closed Oct. 31 of that year.

The club members’ attorneys argued the deposits should have been refunded within 30 days after the club closed in 2010, as per a membership agreement they each signed.

After a two-week trial, the jury determined the evidence failed to prove Washington Trust assumed or breached the duty to refund the membership deposits.