Disciplinary Action by a Committee

[Guest w. Watson]

Our organization is incorporated, is multinational in scope with affiliate units, has adopted RONR, has a committee on discipline, and is ruled by a Board of Directors (BOD) that meets bi-annually (the members do not meet). The BOD is composed of delegates from Affiliate units (there are 128 delegate votes) and the six officers make up the other part of the BOD (they have six votes) [note: a total of 134 votes on the BOD for all matters coming before it]. The six officers also make up the Executive Committee (EC) that make emergency decisions when the BOD is not in session. We have no section on discipline in our Bylaws.

 

Now the EC (with only six total votes out of the 134 on the BOD) is  Suspending/Expelling members/affiliate units from the organization without any representation from the affiliate units who represent over 95 percent of the votes on the BOD. Can discipline be administered in this fashion  by the EC,  or do we have to put something in the bylaws granting them (the EC) the right to act alone in disciplinary proceedings.

[Gary Novosielski]

It's difficult to see how discipline, even in fairly severe cases, could be considered an "emergency" matter.  The answer to your question can't be definitively given without interpreting your bylaws, however, which would be up to your organization.

 

In the general case, Executive Committees such as yours are subordinate to the Board as a whole.

 

If your bylaws are silent on discipline, then the rules in RONR Chapter XX. would apply.  They require a 2/3 vote of the membership to expell a member.  Do you in fact have individual members, or are you an association of associations?

 

And if they are truly silent on discipline then how did the discipline committee come to be, and what is its charge, and from what source?

[Guest Curious]

More broadly, what do your bylaws say about the powers of the Executive Committee?

[Josh Martin]

Our organization is incorporated, is multinational in scope with affiliate units, has adopted RONR, has a committee on discipline, and is ruled by a Board of Directors (BOD) that meets bi-annually (the members do not meet). The BOD is composed of delegates from Affiliate units (there are 128 delegate votes) and the six officers make up the other part of the BOD (they have six votes) [note: a total of 134 votes on the BOD for all matters coming before it]. The six officers also make up the Executive Committee (EC) that make emergency decisions when the BOD is not in session. We have no section on discipline in our Bylaws.

 

Now the EC (with only six total votes out of the 134 on the BOD) is  Suspending/Expelling members/affiliate units from the organization without any representation from the affiliate units who represent over 95 percent of the votes on the BOD. Can discipline be administered in this fashion  by the EC,  or do we have to put something in the bylaws granting them (the EC) the right to act alone in disciplinary proceedings.

 

I don't understand how you have no section on discipline in your bylaws but nonetheless have a committee on discipline. Setting that aside, the Executive Committee does not have the authority to discipline members unless the bylaws so provide.

 

If your bylaws are silent on discipline, then the rules in RONR Chapter XX. would apply.  They require a 2/3 vote of the membership to expell a member.  Do you in fact have individual members, or are you an association of associations?

 

The original post states that the association "is ruled by a Board of Directors (BOD) that meets bi-annually (the members do not meet)." If the Board of Directors is the highest authority in the association, the board would have the authority to discipline members, unless the bylaws provide otherwise.