Board Decisions

[Guest Ebw]

I sit on the board of a youth football and cheer leading organization, 10 different age brackets. Ie 10 teams. We our own by-laws but follows Roberts Rules to cover anything not covered in our by-laws. 

In our by laws we annually except letters of intent for head coaching positions. Head coaches are not board members and have no board voting rights however, are responsible for running day to day tasks for their particular age group, including managing their team, staff, playing calling, routines etc. 

Every year people have to put in a letter of intent for appointment to the position of head coach appear for an interview, then each board member except the president votes on who they feel is the best candidate for the position. 

It is rare that people who were not Head Coach or assistant coach the year before put in a letter of intent for the position of head coach. 

This year the Head Coach from an age group went for a position at a different age group, one the Coaches assistants ran as well a two people who were members of the organization but not coaches the year prior. This being such a rare occurrence the board accepted the letters from all three people. Interviews were conducted and when it came down to a vote one of the people who were not coaches the year prior won the majority. The appointment was made and that coach was notified.

It was brought to the boards attention that in the by laws you have to have been an assistant coach the year prior to put in a letter of intent for Head Coach unless no prior year coach or assistant ran for the position.

This was an inadvertent oversight by the board since this was an unusual circumstance. But the board accepted the letter and the decision was made. 

Can the board allow this decision to stand, since it was inadvertent and the decision was already made.

[Guest EBW]

Also, the eligible party who ran for the position and lost, began a social media slandering tirade of the organization prior to handling things the right way and challenging the decision before the board. And only brought the by law Violation to the boards attention after being notified by the board to appear for his by law violation. 

[jstackpo]

It is unfortunate about the non-selectee raising a public fuss, rather than coming to the Board more discreetly,  but...

Presuming that your bylaws allow for no other exceptions to the "must have been a coach or an assistant, unless..." rule, (I haven read your bylaws, of course, but you might want to do so (again) ), it would appear that the the fusser is correct and your choice for Head Coach is not eligible to hold that job.    So you will have to return to the drawing board and make another selection.  (You are not obliged, of course, to select the fusser.)  Might be a good idea to solicit another round of letters of intent for the one unfilled Coach position.  Perhaps no past coaches or assistant coaches will apply, and you can re-select the same person as first time around.

The only difficulty with this plan is if there is any contract (salary-?) involved between the organization and the person you originally did select.  If so consult with a lawyer for help.  RONR can't help in that aspect.