Lawsuits from Assoc. Members

[The_Rookie]

Hello,

Has anyone on here been a member of an association that has been hit with a lawsuit by:

1) A member of the Association

2) Board member of Association

3) Training Chair

What was the basis of such a claim?

I ask because the association I am a member of has been threatened with legal action.

[Freddy]

Sorry to hear.

Hasn't happened here.

Is your association a member of NASO-ON, through which legal assistance is available?

Reference your past issues of Referee magazine. Though not actual legal advice, there's a lot of good legal advice that is given about every other issue regarding similar situations.

[rockyroad]

It was threatened here...when the school districts were audited by the State and told to stop paying officials by check at the game site, we went to a billing system and officials are paid periodically throughout the season. One angry member threatened to sue the Assoc., the Districts, and the State Auditor's office. It went nowhere, fast.

We also were threatened when a member stopped receiving assignments after having multiple reports from different game sites of alcohol on his breath. He stopped getting assignments...he knew about the reports and threatened to sue. Again, it went nowhere, fast.

What are the reasons for this threatened litigation?

[Adam]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

It was threatened here...when the school districts were audited by the State and told to stop paying officials by check at the game site

Really? Why?

[rockyroad]

Originally Posted by Adam

Really? Why?

Something about not being District Employees and the RCW's (Revised Code of Washington)...I was on the Board, and we had a lawyer come in and "explain" it to us, but I know my eyes glazed over after about 10 minutes of lawyer speak...

[Adam]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

Something about not being District Employees and the RCW's (Revised Code of Washington)...I was on the Board, and we had a lawyer come in and "explain" it to us, but I know my eyes glazed over after about 10 minutes of lawyer speak...

Interesting. It's so varied here. Some give us a check on site. Others mail it. A few use refpay. At least three schools pay us cash on site.

[Rich]

The associations aren't always without blame in these situations, so I'd love to hear why the OP's association is being sued.

[The_Rookie]

Originally Posted by Rich

The associations aren't always without blame in these situations, so I'd love to hear why the OP's association is being sued.

To provide more detail...The situation involves are former head of training and instruction. This person held this spot for a few years and a change was made 2 years ago whereby he was removed from being the head and was assigned to deal with 1st year officials only. He was irked by what he felt was a slap in the face and has told the association board that he has retained a lawyer.

Not sure on what grounds he feels has a legal beef since the director of training serves at the pleasure of the board of directors.

[ASA/NYSSOBLUE]

Happened to catch the headline of this thread....

Softball umpire here, who is a member of our groups Exec Committee, and our group got sued for discrimination by a member - along with the local basketball AND baseball groups he was a member of.

Needless to say, it was quite a mess, as it brought because we claimed he was not eligible to work, as he had not made enough required meetings, and he had claimed he had gone to some meetings at a different area's board, etc etc. I do not know the details of the claims against the other groups, but it would be logical to assume they had similar cases.

The net result of everything was: The basketball and baseball groups ended up 'winning' - if you can call six months of legal wrangling winning - we had a particularly crummy lawyer, and ended up settling with him. Baseball and basketball ended up expelling him, and amazingly he is still with our group! We did, however, tighten our bylaws up, and also added to our constitution a bylaw expelling any member who sued the group.

An 'interesting' experience to say the least!

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by Adam

Interesting. It's so varied here. Some give us a check on site. Others mail it. A few use refpay. At least three schools pay us cash on site.

I must admit, I am always fascinated by these discussions. I ref in four leagues with three different associations and every one sends me a check at the end of the yr - and I don't mind at all.

Only once, a tournament, was I paid in cash. Shrugs.

Is this a big deal to any others?

[Adam]

The non-school stuff here gets paid through the association, but they don't wait til the end of the season. They typically pay within a month or so in a check.

All of the schools, however, pay the officials directly in one form or another.

[ASA/NYSSOBLUE]

Originally Posted by Adam

The non-school stuff here gets paid through the association, but they don't wait til the end of the season. They typically pay within a month or so in a check.

All of the schools, however, pay the officials directly in one form or another.

The school games I do for softball and volleyball here (lower NYS) are assigned by, and paid by a cooperative all the schools belong to that pools resources for supplies, vo-tech education, etc. This body also administers all sports - they schedule all the games, and schedules officials . We get (electronically now) a paysheet the first of the month for the previous month, we sign and submit (usually electronically also), and in a couple of weeks we get a check. We USED to get checks from individual schools, but it got ridiculous trying to chase down checks from some districts, so this cooperative took it all over,

[JRutledge]

This is why local officials associations really need to stop assigning games. It has all kinds of liability if someone is not hired to their liking.

Peace

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by The_Rookie

...he was removed from being the head and was assigned to deal with 1st year officials only. He was irked by what he felt was a slap in the face ...

Heck, some with a civil understanding would consider that a step up! That's where we as a group need some of our better veteran officials.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

This is why local officials associations really need to stop assigning games. It has all kinds of liability if someone is not hired to their liking.

Peace

What does the association assigning have to do with liability. Someone will always be subject to being liable if someone wants to sue. Even if the assigning were separate, they could still sue the association.

Are you suggesting the assignor and association be split? Can't be done here in Oregon. It is just not an option with the state bylaws...maybe even laws. Associations here all do the assigning. There is no reason for an association to exist if they don't assign.