Meeting distruption

[Guest Doug]

Can members of BOD be expelled from meetings for constant disruptions?

[Rob Elsman]

I do not understand the labels "food", "car", and "plane" on this post. Is there more to this than meets the eye?

[Josh Martin]

15 minutes ago, Guest Doug said:

Can members of BOD be expelled from meetings for constant disruptions?

Yes. See RONR, 11th ed., pgs. 643-648 for information regarding discipline for offenses occurring during a meeting. Since this is a board, the following information is also relevant:

"The executive board of an organized society operates under the society's bylaws, the society's parliamentary authority, and any special rules of order or standing rules of the society which may be applicable to it. Such a board may adopt its own special rules of order or standing rules only to the extent that such rules do not conflict with any of the rules of the society listed above. It may protect itself against breaches of order by its members during board meetings, and against annoyance by nonmembers, by employing the procedures outlined on pages 645–49, but the maximum penalty which may be imposed upon a disorderly member of the board is that he be required to leave the meeting room during the remainder of the meeting." (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 486)

I advise reading pgs. 643-648 in their entirety before proceeding, but the short version is that (after repeated warnings from the chair regarding the disruptions), the chair "names" the member, orders the secretary to record the disorderly conduct and words in the minutes, and then puts the question to the assembly on the penalty. At that point the board could, by majority vote, order the member removed for the remainder of the meeting. Permanently removing the member from the board, however, may be a bit trickier. See FAQ #20.

Edited July 23, 2020 at 05:06 PM by Josh Martin