Discipline/Suspension of Board Member

[Mike Evans]

I saw in the wikipedia article and other online sources that a board member who is unruly, who refuses to come to order, who casts accusations and makes threats, can be censured and even removed from the meeting by a vote of the assembly.  That said, I am new to this, and don't necessarily trust wikipedia to be relevant.  

We have such a board member.  Our bylaws provide rules for permanent removal, but on all other matters reference Robert's Rules.  Is it appropriate to remove her from the meeting and suspend her for a period of time, and if so, which articles can I reference?

 

Thanks!

 

[Atul Kapur]

Section 61, pages 645 - 648 deal with breaches of order by members in a meeting.

[Mike Evans]

55 minutes ago, Atul Kapur said:

Section 61, pages 645 - 648 deal with breaches of order by members in a meeting.

Thank you, that is exactly the resource I needed. Thanks for fielding a newbie question

[Richard Brown]

1 hour ago, Mike Evans said:

I saw in the wikipedia article and other online sources that a board member who is unruly, who refuses to come to order, who casts accusations and makes threats, can be censured and even removed from the meeting by a vote of the assembly.  That said, I am new to this, and don't necessarily trust wikipedia to be relevant.  

We have such a board member.  Our bylaws provide rules for permanent removal, but on all other matters reference Robert's Rules.  Is it appropriate to remove her from the meeting and suspend her for a period of time, and if so, which articles can I reference?

 

Thanks!

 

 

48 minutes ago, Atul Kapur said:

Section 61, pages 645 - 648 deal with breaches of order by members in a meeting.

I agree with the citation provided by Dr. Kapur, but point out that his citation (as are almost all of our citations) is to the current 11th edition of RONR.  I point that out because your questions asks for references to "articles" which you can cite.  By that, I don't know if you mean articles in other publications or article numbers in older editions of Robert's Rules of Order.  I have a hunch you might be referring to the 100 year old 4th edition, which is the only edition available online.  It does contain article numbers.  However, the current 11th edition does not have "article" numbers, but rather chapters and sections and is usually cited by page numbers..  I suggest you obtain a copy of either the current edition of RONR or wait a few days and purchase a copy of the new 12th edition which has a release date of September 1. 

[Mike Evans]

2 minutes ago, Richard Brown said:

 

I agree with the citation provided by Dr. Kapur, but point out that his citation (as are almost all of our citations) is to the current 11th edition of RONR.  I point that out because your questions asks for references to "articles" which you can cite.  By that, I don't know if you mean articles in other publications or article numbers in older editions of Robert's Rules of Order.  I have a hunch you might be referring to the 100 year old 4th edition, which is the only edition available online.  It does contain article numbers.  However, the current 11th edition does not have "article" numbers, but rather chapters and sections and is usually cited by page numbers..  I suggest you obtain a copy of either the current edition of RONR or wait a few days and purchase a copy of the new 12th edition which has a release date of September 1. 

Thank you for the clarification.  I meant "articles" in the general sense of "relevant passages", so yes, the more current reference was indeed helpful.  I have already pre-ordered my copy of the 12th edition

[George Mervosh]

1 hour ago, Mike Evans said:

  Is it appropriate to remove her from the meeting and suspend her for a period of time

 

Suspension will not be an option if these are board meetings unless the bylaws confer additional powers to the board we don't know about.

" 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.), p. 486

The membership however can impose additional discipline following the proper procedures to do so.

 

Edited August 26, 2020 at 06:55 PM by George Mervosh

[Mike Evans]

3 minutes ago, George Mervosh said:

The membership however can impose discipline following the proper procedures to do so.

 

These are board meetings.  General membership meetings only occur annually (it's an HOA).  So after ejection, further discipline can then hypothetically be taken?  By membership, would that be the rest of the board members, or the membership of the community?

[George Mervosh]

4 minutes ago, Mike Evans said:

These are board meetings.  General membership meetings only occur annually (it's an HOA).  So after ejection, further discipline can then hypothetically be taken?  By membership, would that be the rest of the board members, or the membership of the community?

The citation is from the section on procedures in board meetings.  You can kick her out of a meeting if warranted following the procedures noted on pp. 645-49 but that's it.  Any further discipline would have to come from the membership of the community.

[Mike Evans]

3 minutes ago, George Mervosh said:

The citation is from the section on procedures in board meetings.  You can kick her out of a meeting if warranted following the procedures noted on pp. 645-49 but that's it.  Any further discipline would have to come from the membership of the community.

Thank you!  Can't wait to get my copy next week.  We've had one board meeting so far and it was less than pleasant.  I'm new to it, but hoping to help turn things in a more positive direction.

[Gary Novosielski]

Where is the presiding officer when all this is going on?  The president should be the first line of defense against an unruly member.  If the chair isn't doing a proper job, and the offending members starts mouthing off, a member should instantly raise a point of order that the meeting is not in order.  That should have the effect of causing the chair to start doing his job, and if it happens again, raise a point of order again.  If it happens a third time, I would move that the member be removed from the meeting.

But that's only valid for the remainder of that meeting.