Removal of Officer

[Guest Darren Hall]

An officer of our organization (Mr. M) has engaged in what I consider extremely poor behavior. During a meeting of the organization, in his speech seeking re-election, he made numerous blatantly false statements about me. The statements are verifiably false. They included accusations of fraudulently claiming to hold a professional license (a criminal offense) and of filing a lawsuit against the organization (no lawsuit was ever filed and I do hold a valid license to practice despite Mr. M's claims to the contrary. I believe this to be conduct worthy of, at a minimum, removing Mr. M as an officer of the organization. The Executive Committee voted, I believe unanimously, to request Mr. M's resignation from his office, but he brazenly refused to honor that request. The President of our organization (who coincidentally happens to be on the faculty of the same University where Mr. M is a faculty member) states that in his opinion the Executive Committee can not take any action against Mr. M. The following are excerpts from our constitution.

"The Executive Committee shall conduct and run all {organization name} business except the election of officers"

"Officers may be removed from office with a 2/3 vote of members present at a meeting."

"The Executive Committee shall have the power to censor, suspend, or expel any member guilty of misconduct."

"Only active members in good standing are eligible to hold office."

Am I crazy for believing that the Executive Committee has the ability to remove this man from office? Am I crazy for believing that the President is attempting to protect his fellow University faculty member? There is unanimous agreement of the Executive Committee that Mr. M should no longer be an officer, but the President insists that the Executive Committee can not take any action. Please tell me he is wrong.

[Kim Goldsworthy]

...

The Executive Committee voted, I believe unanimously, to request Mr. M's resignation from his office, but he brazenly refused to honor that request.

The President of our organization ... states that in his opinion the Executive Committee can not take any action against Mr. M.

The following are excerpts from our constitution.

"The Executive Committee shall conduct and run all {organization name} business except the election of officers"

"Officers may be removed from office with a 2/3 vote of members present at a meeting."

"The Executive Committee shall have the power to censor, suspend, or expel any member guilty of misconduct."

"Only active members in good standing are eligible to hold office."

Am I crazy for believing that the Executive Committee has the ability to remove this man from office?

Am I crazy for believing that the President is attempting to protect his fellow University faculty member?

There is unanimous agreement of the Executive Committee that Mr. M should no longer be an officer, but the President insists that the Executive Committee can not take any action.

Please tell me he is wrong.

Am I crazy for believing that the Executive Committee has the ability to remove this man from office?

Your interpretation is one interpretation. There may be other interpretations, too.

Am I crazy for believing that the President is attempting to protect his fellow University faculty member?

Your interpretation is one interpretation. There may be other interpretations, too.

...the President insists that the Executive Committee can not take any action.

Please tell me he is wrong.

His interpretation is one interpretation. There may be other interpretations, too.

You are asking the wrong party.

We cannot tell you what your customized rules mean.

Only the organization is in a position to interpret and apply its own rules.

Ask your organization your questions.

Its answers count.

The "answers" from nonmembers of your organization do not count.

[Josh Martin]

Am I crazy for believing that the Executive Committee has the ability to remove this man from office? Am I crazy for believing that the President is attempting to protect his fellow University faculty member? There is unanimous agreement of the Executive Committee that Mr. M should no longer be an officer, but the President insists that the Executive Committee can not take any action. Please tell me he is wrong.

Well, I don't believe you're crazy. Your interpretation may well be reasonable, but I'm not sure it is the only reasonable interpretation. It is up to your organization to interpret its own Bylaws, and they must be interpreted in their entirety. See RONR, 10th ed., pgs. 570-573 for some Principles of Interpretation.

On an unrelated note, I would advise amending your Bylaws, as I'm fairly certain your society intended to list "censure" under the list of disciplinary punishments, not "censor."

[Gary Novosielski]

The following are excerpts from our constitution.

"The Executive Committee shall conduct and run all {organization name} business except the election of officers"

"Officers may be removed from office with a 2/3 vote of members present at a meeting."

"The Executive Committee shall have the power to censor, suspend, or expel any member guilty of misconduct."

"Only active members in good standing are eligible to hold office."

Am I crazy for believing that the Executive Committee has the ability to remove this man from office? Am I crazy for believing that the President is attempting to protect his fellow University faculty member? There is unanimous agreement of the Executive Committee that Mr. M should no longer be an officer, but the President insists that the Executive Committee can not take any action. Please tell me he is wrong.

"He is wrong." Anything else you'd like me to tell you? But seriously...

Look it's simple enough. If you have rules that say that the EC can do a thing, and the President rules that the EC cannot do this thing, then you should move to Appeal From the Decision of the Chair. The motion requires a second, is debatable (one speech each, except the President, who has claim to the first and last speeches). A majority vote is required to overrule the chair's decision. But it sounds like you have that many on your side.

Since your previous efforts to declare Mr. M. removed have not worked, simply renew that motion next time, and when the chair rules against you, move to Appeal.