Membership resignation rescinded

[Guest Buddy]

The president of our organization received an e-mail addressed to her from one of our general members that the member would be "resigning from the club effective today". The following day the president announced the receipt of this email at the board meeting. No vote was taken nor is one required on the resignation. No official acceptance of a resignation is required in our by-laws - most past members just stop paying their dues and are thus dropped. That evening the president wrote back to the resigning member, acknowledging the email, accepting her resignation, and thanking the resigning member for her past participation. The resigning member responded by e-mail that she now wished to resign 7 days hence. The following day, the president forwarded the original resignation email and the acceptance of the resignation to the board members for their information. Five days following that, the resigned member wrote another email to several board members, stating she had "reconsidered her resignation" and now did not wish to resign.

Our by-laws state:

Duties of the President

The President shall....be empowered to sign and endorse documents,...shall have such usual powers of supervision and management as may pertain to the office of the President,.....shall be an ex officio member of all committees except the Nominating Committee

Resignations

Members who wish to resign shall advise the Membership Chair in writing.

There is now some confusion among board members whether the resignee is or is not a member. Some believe that the following section of ROONR applies:

Section 35 - Actions that Cannot be Rescinded or Amended - Item c)When a resignation has been acted upon....and the person has been officially notified of the action (page 297-298) of ROONR 10th edition.

The same board members believe that the above Section and Item were designed to eliminate the disruption to an organization that can occur when a member can say on a whim "I am a member" "I'm not a member" "I am a member" - etc.

Others believe that because the Membership Chair was advised via the forwarded email and acceptance, that the resigned member is still a member. (the Membership Chair was out of town on the original day of resignation; the Membership Chair is a member of the board and received the forwarded resignation and acceptance when the other board members did)

Can you advise if you agree that the member has resigned as her resignation was accepted in writing. Or if she is still a member because the Membership Chair was notified via the forwarded email.

Thank you

[hmtcastle]

Can you advise if you agree that the member has resigned as her resignation was accepted in writing. Or if she is still a member because the Membership Chair was notified via the forwarded email.

The proper interpretation of your bylaws requires reading them in their entirety, something that's beyond the scope of this forum.

That said, RONR requires that a resignation be formerly accepted (or rejected) by the body (or person) authorized to do so. That would typically be the body (or person) that elected, appointed, or accepted the member in the first place.

A rule requiring that a resignee "advise" the membership chair is not necessarily a rule that authorizes the membership chair to accept (i.e. approve) the resignation, though that is probably where the critical ambiguity lies. Nor does the rule you cited describing the president's authority necessarily give him the power to unilaterally accept (i.e. approve) a resignation, though, again, there's some ambiguity there too.

Unless you've been trying to get rid of this member for years and this now seems like your chance, it seems to me like the simple solution is to allow her to withdraw her resignation. It's not as if she was resigning as an officer.

[Kim Goldsworthy]

The president of our organization received an e-mail addressed to her from one of our general members that the member would be "resigning from the club effective today".

The following day the president announced the receipt of this email at the board meeting.

No vote was taken nor is one required on the resignation.

No official acceptance of a resignation is required in our by-laws - most past members just stop paying their dues and are thus dropped.

That evening the president wrote back to the resigning member, acknowledging the email, accepting her resignation, and thanking the resigning member for her past participation.

The resigning member responded by e-mail that she now wished to resign 7 days hence.

The following day, the president forwarded the original resignation email and the acceptance of the resignation to the board members for their information.

Five days following that, the resigned member wrote another email to several board members, stating she had "reconsidered her resignation" and now did not wish to resign.

Our by-laws state:

Duties of the President

The President shall....be empowered to sign and endorse documents,...shall have such usual powers of supervision and management as may pertain to the office of the President,.....shall be an ex officio member of all committees except the Nominating Committee

Resignations

Members who wish to resign shall advise the Membership Chair in writing.

There is now some confusion among board members whether the resignee is or is not a member.

Some believe that the following section of ROONR applies:

Section 35 - Actions that Cannot be Rescinded or Amended - Item c)When a resignation has been acted upon....and the person has been officially notified of the action (page 297-298) of ROONR 10th edition.

The same board members believe that the above Section and Item were designed to eliminate the disruption to an organization that can occur when a member can say on a whim "I am a member" "I'm not a member" "I am a member" - etc.

Others believe that because the Membership Chair was advised via the forwarded email and acceptance, that the resigned member is still a member.

(the Membership Chair was out of town on the original day of resignation; the Membership Chair is a member of the board and received the forwarded resignation and acceptance when the other board members did)

Can you advise if you agree that the member has resigned as her resignation was accepted in writing?

Or if she is still a member because the Membership Chair was notified via the forwarded email?

Since you are trying to interpret a customized rule, then nothing can be cited in RONR to support or negate any given interpretation of your uniquely-worded rule regarding resignation.

I have an opinion. - "Obey your rule."

If your rule requires X for a resignation, then do X.

[Josh Martin]

Can you advise if you agree that the member has resigned as her resignation was accepted in writing.

I'm not convinced the resignation has been accepted. Nothing in RONR gives the President the authority to accept a resignation, and I don't see anything in your Bylaws that clearly gives the President that authority either.