We mentioned in a previous article (Seasons Change) the story of the kerfuffle that is ongoing as concerns a convention of a state club that didn’t meet with the needs or requirements of the old time club members and some of the ethically challenged things the club chairman did and allowed as a result.
This post is a continuation of that story. If you’re familiar with the real life goings-on you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about. If you’re not, you’ll be entertained by the actions of this local club. It reminds us of Buford T. Justice, the sheriff in Smokey and the Bandit, you know, claiming to enforce the law but being totally incompetent in it.
Here’s the scenario for this portion of our story. As a result of the conflict over the outcome of the state club convention as well as other perceived grave affronts to genteel folks, it is alleged that someone (actually 5 people if they did it right) have filed charges against one of the members of a county club.
This member is accused of filing a lawsuit against people the suit alleges are responsible for non-compliance with the rule changes and other results of the state club convention. The accused is a party to a lawsuit, however neither the state nor the local club is named in the suit, just people who had a responsibility which the suit alleges was not met.
The charges further accuse this member of engaging in a fist fight at another club’s meeting, of attacking club members, and of actions not in the best interests of the club.
The previous paragraph is all the information the accused club member received, even though the state club rules require that “the Investigation Committee shall furnish to the person charged a copy of all charges, setting a time and place for the person charged to be heard.” We interpret “all charges” to mean not only the section of the rules, but the actions allegedly taken, and the date, location, and complainant’s name. This was not provided.
At the hearing required, the Investigation Committee refused to answer any questions concerning the specifics of the charges leveled, and were hesitant to even, in two cases, provide the accused with their names.
One member of the Investigating Committee made negative statement about the accused at the club meeting when the accused joined the club. We consider this previous animus, and that member should never have been appointed to the Investigation Committee.
A different member of the Investigating Committee was heard to say, at multiple meetings of a different organization, what will we do if the accused shows up? Again, animus prior to the investigation points us to this member being inappropriate to the committee.
It is worth mentioning that the chairman of the local club, when informed of the incompetence of the Investigation Committee’s activities, chose to not take any action.
Again, we’ll wait for the completion of the process to name names. Before we consider this post and Seasons Change complete we will fully disclose the names of all the players and the results.
Sorry to be so obtuse, however we choose to not accuse someone of a wrongful action until we can prove it.
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