Terminating Membership without Due Process

[Marc W. Kohler]

The Puppeteers of America just terminated my membership without a trial, any hearing, or membership vote.

Six years ago, two members of the Puppet in Education and Therapy Committee cut me out of all their activities.  When I complained,

the Committee Chairperson wrote that since I had been argumentative, I would not be allowed to present a the PIET Day at the National Puppeteers pf America 

Festival in 2015.  In fact, after I gave a talk at a regional Festival in Sept. of 2014, I gave a talk at a regional festival.   One of them had been exchanging emails with me every day to help me write my presentation.  When I completed my talk, she refused to talk to me.  In October of that year, I sent both of these chair persons a copy of a handbook that I had completrd in draft form.  Neither of them ever commented on the work or shared it with any other members of the Puppeteers of America.  I complained, and they wrote a lawyers letter to me saying that that the 

Boards of the PofA and the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry had both voted to silence me.  I spoke to both Board Presidents and they both explained that no such vote had happened!

There is more that that they did, and those events caused me to complain again about this  vendetta.  TRwo month later, I received an email telling me that my membership had been terminated and that they would return my membership fee. They returned the fee.

[Josh Martin]

57 minutes ago, Marc W. Kohler said:

The Puppeteers of America just terminated my membership without a trial, any hearing, or membership vote.

Six years ago, two members of the Puppet in Education and Therapy Committee cut me out of all their activities.  When I complained,

the Committee Chairperson wrote that since I had been argumentative, I would not be allowed to present a the PIET Day at the National Puppeteers pf America 

Festival in 2015.  In fact, after I gave a talk at a regional Festival in Sept. of 2014, I gave a talk at a regional festival.   One of them had been exchanging emails with me every day to help me write my presentation.  When I completed my talk, she refused to talk to me.  In October of that year, I sent both of these chair persons a copy of a handbook that I had completrd in draft form.  Neither of them ever commented on the work or shared it with any other members of the Puppeteers of America.  I complained, and they wrote a lawyers letter to me saying that that the 

Boards of the PofA and the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry had both voted to silence me.  I spoke to both Board Presidents and they both explained that no such vote had happened!

There is more that that they did, and those events caused me to complain again about this  vendetta.  TRwo month later, I received an email telling me that my membership had been terminated and that they would return my membership fee. They returned the fee.

Does the organization have its own rules on this subject in its bylaws?