Closed Board Meeting

[Guest Rosalind North]

I have to hold a closed board meeting to address disciplinary action against a board member. The purpose is to determine if the charges are valid. The person will be omitted from this meeting. Her spouse is a board member also as immediate past President. Can he be omitted from this closed meeting also as he would be bias, loud and disruptive during this process.

[Rev Ed]

RONR suggests that anyone with a 'direct personal interest' that is 'not common to other members of the organization.'  However, RONR also states that 'no member can be compelled to refrain from voting in such circumstances.'  See page 407, ll. 21-31 of RONR 11th edition.

 

In other words, the husband, as a member of the Board, has the right to attend and vote on the matter, although he should not.  The only way around this is to have a By-law that would specifically stop this, but check any statute covering the organization to see if it contains something about this. 

 

If the husband becomes irate, disrespectful, etc. the Chairman (with the support of the Board) can have him removed from the room.  See pages 645-648 of RONR 11 edition.  But basically, the Chairman would call the husband to order, then formally request him to obey the rules, and then ask the Board to vote (by ballot) to have him removed from the room if he becomes disruptive.

[Guest Nancy N.]

Let me first caution you to make sure that the bylaws give the board the authority to discipline its members:  some boards don't have it.

 

... The person will be omitted from this meeting...

 

Whether your group is following its own rules for disciplinary procedure, as given in its bylaws, or following the procedures given in RONR (p. 643 - 650 and Section 63), be sure to respect the rights of the object member (let's call her Gary, although that's not usually the name of someone who has a husband), particularly the right to attend.  (This respect for the accused's, Gary's, rights, does cover the organization as well as Gary's.) For example, in the simpler case of two that RONR deals with, the book says that "the offending member can be required to leave the hall [the meeting space -- N.N.] during the consideration of his penalty [p. 647] ...."  In the longer case, when a full trial is required, "a resolution preferring charges may (although it need not) be accompanied by one suspending all or some specified portion of the accused's authority, rights, and duties as an officer or rights as a member (except those rights that relate to the trial) pending disposition of the case [p. 662]...."  And at the trial, "when the closing arguments have been completed, the accused must leave the room [p. 667]."  Notice that, to suspend Gary's rights, the assembly must specifically adopt a motion to that effect; and, in both cases, all of Michelle's rights are unaffected until towards the end.

 

... Her spouse is a board member also as immediate past President...

 

(I'd advise confirming that the immediate past president is indeed on the board:  to be so, the bylaws must say so.  Occasionally groups will just assume it, a grossly imprudent mistake.)

 

RONR suggests that anyone with a 'direct personal interest' that is 'not common to other members of the organization.'  However, RONR also states that 'no member can be compelled to refrain from voting in such circumstances.'  See page 407, ll. 21-31 of RONR 11th edition.

 

In other words, the husband, as a member of the Board, has the right to attend and vote on the matter, although he should not.  The only way around this is to have a By-law that would specifically stop this, but check any statute covering the organization to see if it contains something about this. 

 

If the husband becomes irate, disrespectful, etc. the Chairman (with the support of the Board) can have him removed from the room.  See pages 645-648 of RONR 11 edition.  But basically, the Chairman would call the husband to order, then formally request him to obey the rules, and then ask the Board to vote (by ballot) to have him removed from the room if he becomes disruptive.

 

It looks to me as if R. Ed, in saying that the husband should not attend (beginning of his second paragraph), goes a lot further than RONR does.

 

I do heartily commend R. Ed's third paragraph here.  And note that it applies to everyone.

[Guest Nancy N.]

CORRECTION

 

I erroneously wrote " all of Michelle's rights are unaffected until towards the end" at the end of my second paragraph.  Strike Michelle, insert Gary.

[Josh Martin]

I have to hold a closed board meeting to address disciplinary action against a board member. The purpose is to determine if the charges are valid. The person will be omitted from this meeting. Her spouse is a board member also as immediate past President. Can he be omitted from this closed meeting also as he would be bias, loud and disruptive during this process.

 

Neither the board member who has been charged nor her spouse (since he is also a board member) can be omitted from the start (unless your bylaws so provide), but if either or both of them are disruptive, and continue to be disruptive despite repeated warnings from the chair, the assembly can order them to be removed, by majority vote.

 

As noted, this all assumes that the board has the authority to discipline its own members in the first place. Unless the bylaws grant the board this authority, the board can only discipline its members in connection with behavior during that meeting, and the maximum penalty which may be imposed is removing the member from the room for the duration of the meeting.

 

In other words, the husband, as a member of the Board, has the right to attend and vote on the matter, although he should not.

 

He should not vote. Nothing in RONR suggests that he should not attend due to a personal interest not in common with other members (although he certainly shouldn't attend if he is incapable of behaving himself).

 

But basically, the Chairman would call the husband to order, then formally request him to obey the rules, and then ask the Board to vote (by ballot) to have him removed from the room if he becomes disruptive.

 

More precisely, a ballot vote is taken if any member requests it.