Presidnet to go on leave of absence

[Jayadev]

Our not for organization a religious organisation  consists  16 trustees and among them 6 are elected as Executive committee. President of the board of trustees will look into daily activities. Recently there was an allegation against the president that he physically hit one of the volunteers.This matter is coming up for discussion in the board. Can the board asked him to  go on leave of absence until the inquiry is complete?

can he preside over the assembly when this subject comes for discussion ?

Thanks

Jay

[Richard Brown]

Our not for organization a religious organisation  consists  16 trustees and among them 6 are elected as Executive committee. President of the board of trustees will look into daily activities. Recently there was an allegation against the president that he physically hit one of the volunteers.This matter is coming up for discussion in the board. Can the board asked him to  go on leave of absence until the inquiry is complete?

can he preside over the assembly when this subject comes for discussion ?

Thanks

Jay

That's tricky, and too tricky for me to fully answer while I am half asleep at 2 am.   Perhaps someone else will chime in with a more detailed answer.

 

For now, I will just say that the board can ask the president to take a leave of absence, but the president can also ignore the request and tell the board to take a hike.  Or, put  more delicately, "Thanks, but no thanks".   And taking a "leave of absence" presents its own set of headaches.  

 

The matter of discipline is very complex.  I advise you to get a copy of the 11th edition of RONR and study chapter xx, which is the chapter on discipline.  It is 26 pages of very detailed procedures.  The president should not preside at his own trial if things should get that far.  There are a lot of steps between an accusation and a trial, however.

 

Until you get your copy of RONR (and you need the full version.... the "Right Book", not RONR in Brief).... you might take a look at these links:

 

Official Interpretation 2006-2:  http://www.robertsrules.com/interp_list.html#2006_2

 

FAQ # 20:  http://www.robertsrules.com/faq.html#20

 

Here's a link to "The Right Book":  http://www.robertsrules.com/book.html

[Josh Martin]

Our not for organization a religious organisation consists 16 trustees and among them 6 are elected as Executive committee. President of the board of trustees will look into daily activities. Recently there was an allegation against the president that he physically hit one of the volunteers.This matter is coming up for discussion in the board. Can the board asked him to go on leave of absence until the inquiry is complete?

can he preside over the assembly when this subject comes for discussion ?

RONR doesn't define a "leave of absence." Unless your bylaws define it, I guess you're basically asking the President not to show up to meetings for a while. The board may request this, but the President may refuse. On the other hand, if the board (or possibly the membership) uses the formal disciplinary procedures in RONR (see Ch. XX), then when it reaches the step of preferring charges against the President, it may choose to suspend the President of some or all of the rights of membership (except those relating to the trial), until the trial is complete. I would note, however, that this step happens after the report of the investigative committee.

What is also problematic is that while the President could not show up to meetings (voluntarily or otherwise), and the Vice President may preside in his absence, any additional authority that your bylaws assign to the office of President does not transfer to the Vice President in his absence, unless your bylaws so provide.

The President should not preside over this matter in any event, and if he refuses to relinquish the chair, the board could Suspend the Rules to temporarily remove him from the chair, so that the Vice President (or some other member, if the board prefers) may preside.

See FAQ #20 for more information about discipline. I would also note that, unless the bylaws provide otherwise, the authority for discipline rests with the body which elected the position in the first place. So the board may not have any authority to take action against the President, but would instead need to report the issue to the general membership.

The matter of discipline is very complex. I advise you to get a copy of the 11th edition of RONR and study chapter xx, which is the chapter on discipline. It is 26 pages of very detailed procedures. The president should not preside at his own trial if things should get that far. There are a lot of steps between an accusation and a trial, however.

It should also be noted that, depending on how the term of office is worded, a formal trial is not necessarily required. If not, the disciplinary procedures are a lot less complicated.