impeachment Impeachment of chair for straying from Roberts rules

[Guest Jj&t]

Can the Chair/ President be impeached for straying from Roberts Rules?  If he/she does stray from the rules and nobody at the meeting objects during the meeting can they take detailed notes and then later file impeachment charges on all infractions? 

Thanks I’m advance for your advice. 

. 

[Atul Kapur]

If you think a rule is not being followed, you should raise a Point of Order at the time. The Chair will rule on the point and this ruling can be appealed with the meeting deciding on the appeal. Only a few "continuing breaches" can be subject to Point of Order after the fact.

There is a whole sections of RONR dealing with a Chair who abuses their authority. Again, such action is best taken at the time of the perceived abuse. 

There is a whole chapter on disciplinary measures that can be taken against a member, with a long and detailed description of the several steps that need to be taken to do this. 

Bottom line: if the rules aren't being followed, make the Point of Order at that time. (Of course, all of this assumes that the purpose is to have the Rules of Order followed, rather than to remove the chair.)

[Josh Martin]

3 hours ago, Guest Jj&t said:

Can the Chair/ President be impeached for straying from Roberts Rules?  If he/she does stray from the rules and nobody at the meeting objects during the meeting can they take detailed notes and then later file impeachment charges on all infractions? 

“Impeachment” or “impeached” are not terms used in Robert’s Rules. These terms refer to bringing charges against a government official, and if that is indeed your question, you should refer to the applicable laws (and possibly the applicable constitution) governing that procedure.

For procedures for removal of the Chair or President of other organizations, see your bylaws, or see FAQ #20 and Ch. XX of RONR if your bylaws are silent.

The chair’s failure to properly enforce the rules may well be a valid reason to remove the President from office.

I would also suggest, however, that members of an assembly who notice violations of the rules that they believe to be so serious that they warrant removal of the President, should immediately raise a Point of Order when such violations occur, followed by an Appeal if necessary.

Edited September 19, 2019 at 11:03 PM by Josh Martin

[Spencer]

The situation described by Jj&t is also happening on our Board and has created a fiasco I'm at a loss as to how to correct as it involves an employee's annual contract.  The President was not pleased that a majority voted to restructure the management staff and rejected his proposal for the renewal of an employee's contract. So two weeks later, he drafted a new, very similar proposal, surreptitiously contacted certain Directors convincing them to vote in favor of his new proposal, then called a Special Meeting when three Directors were unavailable, and called a vote which passed by a majority. I voted against the new motion and pointed out it contradicted the previous motion that had passed and that had not been rescinded. His response was that the new majority vote in favor of his motion overrides the previous vote. I recommended he not give the employee the new contract because the absent Directors would be opposed and will be calling for a new vote. He ignored the recommendation and the employee signed the new agreement.  The majority of the Board regrets supporting the President's motion, and it's unfortunate the employee will be impacted, but I believe it's in the best interest of the company to put forth a motion to rescind her contract. I believe it will pass. 

[jstackpo]

Next time please post a new question (even though it has similarities with old ones) as a new topic.  This will avoid a mixture of responses that can get confusing.

You have a mixture of parliamentary misbehavior and possible legal (contract relations) difficulties.

Suggest that you fix or check out the latter before they get (possibly) worse.  Then we can take a shot at your parliamentary problems -- you do have some! 

Be sure you post the parliamentary questions as new topics -- one question per topic will help.

[Spencer]

Thank you, jstackpo.  I thought our Board issue was so similar it would not warrant a new post.  However, I will post anew next time.  Appreciate all the comments and advice!