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reporting of disciplinary action


Guest Gary

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Our club's Board recently held a disciplinary hearing.  Our procedure on this differs from RONR, so we followed our procedure along with RONR where it did not conflict with what is set out in our by-laws.   We have a question as to what is to be reported out to the membership.  Our by-laws are silent on this, but we want to follow what is in RONR as we are required.  A few of our Board members have reviewed the pages on discipline and it is our understanding that the charges are not reported; only that there was a hearing, who the disciplined member was and the action taken.   This was our first disciplinary hearing so we want to make sure we report out to the membership correctly.   Thank you.

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It's okay to report the results to the membership, but any information released outside the society should not contain any details, to avoid potential legal problems.  It may be necessary in certain circumstances, for example, to notify outsiders that Mr. Jones is no longer a member, but not the reasons.

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Our club's Board recently held a disciplinary hearing.  Our procedure on this differs from RONR, so we followed our procedure along with RONR where it did not conflict with what is set out in our by-laws.   We have a question as to what is to be reported out to the membership.  Our by-laws are silent on this, but we want to follow what is in RONR as we are required.  A few of our Board members have reviewed the pages on discipline and it is our understanding that the charges are not reported; only that there was a hearing, who the disciplined member was and the action taken.   This was our first disciplinary hearing so we want to make sure we report out to the membership correctly.   Thank you.

 

This is the controlling language in RONR, which you say some members may have read:

 

 "If (after trial) a member is expelled or an officer is removed from office, the society has the right to disclose that fact—circulating it only to the extent required for the protection of the society or, possibly, of other organizations. Neither the society nor any of its members has the right to make public the charge of which an officer or member has been found guilty, or to reveal any other details connected with the case. To make any of the facts public may constitute libel. A trial by the society cannot legally establish the guilt of the accused, as understood in a court of law; it can only establish his guilt as affecting the society's judgment of his fitness for membership or office."  RONR (11th ed.), p. 655

 

Use extreme caution in releasing information.

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