Resignation from Membership Issue

[Guest chief2550]

I'm a member of a not-for-profit organization in New York, and we recently had a complex (and hotly contested) issue.

A member (and elected officer) put in a resignation letter to our Fire Chief (our President, not Fire Chief, should get it) during a heated argument. The letter simply stated "I resign". It did not specify if it was: resigning from membership altogether or resigning her elected office. The Chief stated to the member he will not hand it in for a few days to let her cool down. 

The same day, a member of our Board of Trustees, rummaged through the Chief's desk and saw the letter. This person has a grudge against the "resigning" member as well. The Trustee then took the letter off the Chief's desk (without permission) and gave it to the President. The President attempted to make contact with the "resigning" member and the resigning member stated she wanted to redact the letter.

The resignation was approved by the President, effective immediately later that night at our Monthly Organizational Meeting. The floor had no say in the acceptance of this letter, the President stated that is solely his decision. The general consensus of the membership is very upset with the way it was handled.

Besides the fact many of our members feel the way this resignation was obtained was highly unethical, the question has been posed if this was handled in accordance with Roberts Rules. Our By-Law's do not address who accepts the resignation, only that he can appoint someone to fill her vacant officers slot.

My questions are
1) Was this handled properly by our President, or does the floor have to vote on the resignation?
2) Did the fact the resignation letter was unethically obtained by the Trustee effect the legitimacy of it?
3) Being the fact that the member stated verbally before acceptance by the President she wanted to redact it, does that affect this?

It is a very complicated situation but I would appreciate your feedback. Thanks!

[Joshua Katz]

15 minutes ago, Guest chief2550 said:

1) Was this handled properly by our President, or does the floor have to vote on the resignation?

If the rules in RONR apply, then the resignation must be accepted on the floor.

15 minutes ago, Guest chief2550 said:

2) Did the fact the resignation letter was unethically obtained by the Trustee effect the legitimacy of it?

No, one should be careful about handing out resignation letters. But until it is acted upon, the member may disavow the resignation.

16 minutes ago, Guest chief2550 said:

3) Being the fact that the member stated verbally before acceptance by the President she wanted to redact it, does that affect this?

Presumably, you don't mean redact, which is to delete portions before release. If she no longer wished to resign, then there was no longer a question to put to the assembly, so the resignation could not be accepted.

[Richard Brown]

I agree with Mr. Katz, but with some caveats:  First, it is ultimately up to your organization to interpret its bylaws and to decide what to believe if there are different versions of what happened.   Second, RONR says a resignation should be accepted by the body which has the authority to fill the vacancy.  Here is the exact wording on the subject in Section 47:57d of the 12th edition:  |

The power to appoint or elect persons to any office or board carries with it the power to accept their resignations, and also the power to fill any vacancy occurring in it, unless the bylaws expressly provide otherwise. In the case of a society whose bylaws confer upon its executive board full power and authority over the society’s affairs between meetings of the society’s assembly (as in the example in 56: 43) without reserving to the society itself the exclusive right to fill vacancies, the executive board is empowered to accept resignations and fill vacancies between meetings of the society’s assembly. (Emphasis added)

Since the president is apparently authorized to fill vacancies, he may well  have the  authority to accept the resignation.  However, I think the fact that the "resigning" member told the president verbally that he was "retracting" the resignation may have amounted to a withdrawal of the resignation as contemplated by RONR.   Ultimately that is a factual  determination to be made by the assembly just as in interpreting its own bylaws.

As to whether the actions of the trustee who took the resignation letter to the president and the action of the president in accepting it after it had been withdrawn (if it had in fact been withdrawn) were improper, those are matters of discipline which  the organization could consider.