Complaint procedure

[rbk]

Our Compliance Officer received a complaint involving our Code of Conduct. Our bylaws say that when that happens, the Compliance Officer "shall make a written determination as to whether the complaint is supported by good cause." If there is good cause, there is a hearing. Our bylaws are silent on what to do if the parties involved in the complaint reach a settlement before the good cause determination. In my view, as long as the Compliance Officer is in receipt of the complaint, the complaint needs to be processed (good cause determination, etc.). Our bylaws do not discuss what to do when there is, effectively, an "out of court settlement." What are the Compliance Officer's and complainant's options at this point?

[Josh Martin]

On 3/11/2023 at 5:24 AM, rbk said:

Our Compliance Officer received a complaint involving our Code of Conduct. Our bylaws say that when that happens, the Compliance Officer "shall make a written determination as to whether the complaint is supported by good cause." If there is good cause, there is a hearing. Our bylaws are silent on what to do if the parties involved in the complaint reach a settlement before the good cause determination. In my view, as long as the Compliance Officer is in receipt of the complaint, the complaint needs to be processed (good cause determination, etc.). Our bylaws do not discuss what to do when there is, effectively, an "out of court settlement." What are the Compliance Officer's and complainant's options at this point?

I don't know. Your organization seems to have its own customized rules regarding discipline, and I am not familiar with those rules. It will ultimately be up to your organization to interpret its own rules.

RONR has no answer to this question, because RONR does not permit individual members to submit complaints in this manner. Only the assembly itself has the power to appoint an investigating committee or to prefer charges. There are no "parties" to the case other than the accused and the society itself, so there is no one to reach a "settlement" with.

It seems to me the key question for your organization will be to determine whether the organization's rules permit the complaint to be withdrawn at this stage. If they do, then I would think there is no longer any complaint for the Compliance Officer to act upon. If they do not, then I am not inclined to think this "settlement" has any formal effect on the procedures (assuming such "settlements" are not discussed in your organization's rules), and the Compliance Officer would be required to follow the complaint procedure as usual, although certainly the Compliance Officer might choose to take the "settlement" into account when making his determination.

[Phil D]

Agree with Mr Martin that this seems to be a question of bylaws interpretation more than RONR. “Shall make a written determination” is mandatory language, so the compliance officer doesn’t have a choice as to whether to make such a report. Does a good cause finding result in anything else happening? Does the officer make recommendations for further action?
 

RONR does contemplate “settlements” in thr sense that the accused can potentially resign or make other arrangements to avoid preferral of charges under RONR. See 63:6 or 63:12 for instance. 
 

[Josh Martin]

On 3/11/2023 at 8:19 AM, Phil D said:

RONR does contemplate “settlements” in thr sense that the accused can potentially resign or make other arrangements to avoid preferral of charges under RONR. See 63:6 or 63:12 for instance. 

I think that's quite different from the situation here. In the situation you describe, the agreement would be made with the investigating committee, which is the body appointed by the society to investigate the conduct at issue. This would be comparable to, in this situation, the Compliance Officer reaching an agreement with the individual. RONR does not contemplate a situation in which a "settlement" can be reached between two members of the society, since no individual member of the society can prefer charges.

[puzzling]

My two cents:

 

I also do think that the compliance officer should report. (As the bylaws say the officer should) 

The compliance officer may if he wish take the settlement in account, but also should think about the reoffending risk of the perprrtatot  and more general on how the situation could be prevented.