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Our Board By-laws state that in the event they are unable to impanel an impartial hearing panel for arbitration that they may refer the matter to either District 12 or the State Association. That is all it says. There is no reference in the by-laws to any cooperation agreement or multi-board agreement. If there are additional agreements that may be used, should these agreements be referenced in the by-laws? Shouldn't members of the Board know exactly what documents and agreements they might be bound to follow?
In an arbitration matter brought before my Board, the Respondent requested that the matter be referred to the State Association to conduct the hearing because the Complainant was the Chairman of the Professional Standards Committee. The Board of Directors agreed and referred the matter to the State Association for a hearing. Before accepting the referral, the State Association contacted the Executive Secretary of my Board and told her that the matter should be sent to District 12 per the by-laws. She told the State "no", that it was too far. The State Association then accepted the matter and delegated another board to conduct the hearing. Under our state association by-laws, the State can delegate their authority to another board to conduct a hearing, however, no board is forced or required to accept it. If the delegated board does not accept it, it goes back to the State, and the State must conduct the hearing. If the State fails to conduct the hearing, the arbitration matter is no longer mandatory and becomes voluntary.
I attended an arbitration hearing that I believed was being conducting at the State level. However, after the hearing I was informed by the Executive Secretary of my board, that the State sent the matter back. Had I known this in advance of the hearing, I would have known that my attendance was voluntary and no longer mandatory. Further I was told the arbitration was conducted pursuant to a "private agreement" (a multi-board agreement) and that I was not allowed to see it. It took my lawyer 8 months before a copy was finally provided to us. This multi-board agreement is not referenced in any governing documents for our Board. Anybody have any knowledge with governing documents for local boards?
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