Guest Jean Posted January 30, 2013 at 03:26 PM Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 at 03:26 PM At our general membership meeting a member was caught passing out a letter to select members that slandered me. It was immediately brought to the board's attention and they have taken no action against her, neither at that time nor since. What is the procedure for charging the board with failing to protect a member (me) from another's scurrilous activities? I have asked them to expel her as the only satisfactory remedy. I'm not filing charges against her; I'm making my complaint to the board that because of their refusal to discipline her, they are condoning her actions, thereby impuning my reputation. Can I take the board to task? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sMargaret Posted January 30, 2013 at 03:38 PM Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 at 03:38 PM Disciplinary procedures start in chapter 20 of RONR, page 643. You will also need to check your bylaws to see if you have custom disciplinary procedure.I will mention that at a general membership meeting, board members are not there as "the board", so the board couldn't have taken action at that time. Was there any motion made? Why would you not file charges against her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jean Posted January 30, 2013 at 03:52 PM Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 at 03:52 PM I can file charges against her but since the board has not taken any action since then, I believe they have shunned their responsibilities. She has a 30-year history of railroading members and the board is afraid of her. That is no reason to let her run rough-shod over another member. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sMargaret Posted January 30, 2013 at 04:56 PM Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 at 04:56 PM I'm not sure why, or how, the board could expel someone for passing around a piece of paper during a meeting, scurrilous comments or not. Page 644 of RONR goes into more detail about offenses during a meeting, which are typically that of disorderly conduct, or saying something improper. The Chair would deal with offenses of this nature. It's not clear if the member's conduct was done in a disorderly manner, or through verbally stating something improper about you in the meeting. I'm not entirely sure that the board can take any action without formal charges being filed - but that will depend on your bylaws. The board doesn't have to police all conduct by all general members, and not doing so is not shunning their responsibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted January 30, 2013 at 04:58 PM Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 at 04:58 PM How did the board get charged with policing member's actions at non-board meetings? If the action took place during a general meeting, it should have been the assembly itself that dealt with it (or failed to). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jean Posted January 30, 2013 at 05:16 PM Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 at 05:16 PM I'm referring now to Article XIII. #77 Right of Assembly to Eject and #75 Right to Investigate Character of its members. Several members did object on the basis the action was not appropriate to that setting; offending member was disruptive and insisted on being heard over objections. Nobody took control of the meeting and it labored on for 45 minutes while subjects were thrown willy-nilly into the mix. I did not participate. The club must have some responsibility to monitor its members' actions as regards to other members and the business they are conducting on the club's behalf. Does not the board represent each one of us, not just the loud and vindictive? Are they not charged with upholding the rule of law whereby the loudest and most strident is not necessarily the most correct? I don't buy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Harrison Posted January 30, 2013 at 05:46 PM Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 at 05:46 PM I'm referring now to Article XIII. #77 Right of Assembly to Eject and #75 Right to Investigate Character of its members. There are no such articles in RONR. Does not the board represent each one of us, not just the loud and vindictive? The Board exists to act for the organization between Membership meetings (as much as the bylaws permits it to). Unless the bylaws specifically gives the Board some function at Membership meetings they have no function and don't even exist as a body there.Are they not charged with upholding the rule of law whereby the loudest and most strident is not necessarily the most correct? No. But even if they were, this took place at a Membership meeting so it was up to the Membership to take care of their own business. Rather than blaming the Board for failing to act at a Membership meeting (when they would have had no authority to do so in the first place unless the bylaws grant them that authority) you should be blaming the Membership including yourself for not acting to shut this disruptive member down.You or another member could and should have moved that this person be censured, required to apologize to you (and forced to leave the meeting until she was willing to do so), required to leave the room for the remainder of the meeting, or depending on what the bylaws say regarding expelling a member they may have had the power to toss her then and there. If she refused to leave the room after being ordered to do so the Chair could have appointed a few people to escort her out (though getting the cops to do it might be a better idea since she is unlikely to leave quietly and they can do the "escorting" more professionally). See RONR pp. 643-649 for what the Membership and presiding officer should have done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted January 30, 2013 at 05:54 PM Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 at 05:54 PM I'm referring now to Article XIII. #77 Right of Assembly to Eject and #75 Right to Investigate Character of its members.I'm guessing these come from some online version of a previous edition of RONR. They possibly are from the 4th Edition, now in the public domain, which was published in 1915, nearly 100 years ago. RONR is now in its 11th edition, and you would be best to update your parliamentary resources to that edition (although it is not available online, or in electronic format - you'll have to buy The Right Book). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edgar Posted January 30, 2013 at 05:59 PM Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 at 05:59 PM I did not participate.More's the pity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sMargaret Posted January 30, 2013 at 06:18 PM Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 at 06:18 PM Here is a copy of the correct book:http://www.robertsrules.com/book.htmlThis version can also be extremely useful, being much shorter and likelier to be read:http://www.robertsrules.com/inbrief.htmlIf your chair did not take any action to regain control of the meeting, then the chair should be presented with the in brief version, at the very least. However, members have a responsibility to ensure that rules are being followed during a meeting! Learn how to make points of order, and to make motions, and then do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted January 31, 2013 at 12:03 AM Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 at 12:03 AM At our general membership meeting a member was caught passing out a letter to select members that slandered me. It was immediately brought to the board's attention and they have taken no action against her, neither at that time nor since.The board has no authority to take disciplinary action against a member unless your Bylaws provide otherwise. By default, such power is reserved for the general membership.What is the procedure for charging the board with failing to protect a member (me) from another's scurrilous activities? I have asked them to expel her as the only satisfactory remedy. I'm not filing charges against her; I'm making my complaint to the board that because of their refusal to discipline her, they are condoning her actions, thereby impuning my reputation. Can I take the board to task?See FAQ #20. Also see Ch. XX to see information on disciplinary action against a member.I'm referring now to Article XIII. #77 Right of Assembly to Eject and #75 Right to Investigate Character of its members. Several members did object on the basis the action was not appropriate to that setting; offending member was disruptive and insisted on being heard over objections. Nobody took control of the meeting and it labored on for 45 minutes while subjects were thrown willy-nilly into the mix. I did not participate. The club must have some responsibility to monitor its members' actions as regards to other members and the business they are conducting on the club's behalf. Does not the board represent each one of us, not just the loud and vindictive? Are they not charged with upholding the rule of law whereby the loudest and most strident is not necessarily the most correct? I don't buy it.The board should represent the members of the society and enforce the society's rules, but in this particular case, it is the responsibility of the presiding officer to maintain order during a meeting. So you might have a legitimate complaint about the President, but I wouldn't fault the rest of the board for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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