[SBU Board] Alarming Accusations

Wed Aug 8 09:25:42 PDT 2018

At this point we have a majority of board members who have responded in
favor of hearing Bryan's side of the story.  Tim has sent the statement he
read to Ann.  We will share the information with Bryan as soon as possible,
in total with the suppression of names of the people on our end who passed
along this information in good faith.  We ask everyone to still keep this
information confidential, and I will ask Bryan to do this as well.
However, we need to realize that he may not feel it is in his best
interests to do so.  I will invite Bryan to address the board at our
September meeting.

Thanks,

Ray

On Tue, Aug 7, 2018 at 5:10 PM JC Chupack <jc.chupack at gmail.com> wrote:

> Before I vote on this matter, I want to note (not that most of you aren't
> aware) that I have bias, albeit not a true conflict of interest by
> definition. While most if not all of us know Bryan personally, Bryan is one
> of my dearest friends and has been for many years, both before and after
> his employment with the ACBL. Bryan is also my primary bridge mentor.
> Because of my longtime friendship with Bryan, I have a decent amount of
> knowledge regarding these accusations and the motive of at least one of the
> named parties. And while I'm at liberty to share what I know, I feel the
> board should get the opportunity to hear that from Bryan directly.
>
> I am in favor of sharing the accusations in full, exactly as stated to the
> board, with Bryan, as immediately as possible given that the ballots will
> go out to various boards in less than a week, IIRC. His response, to us or
> in any other form, is his business, although I also support us providing
> him designated time at the next board meeting to respond. I also support
> any subset of the statement read by Tim being provided to Bryan, but my
> primary preference is for in-full disclosure.
>
> Related - I want to note that I suspect multiple parts of this will lead
> to further investigations and actions, regardless of what we do or don't
> opt to do today, given the nature and seriousness of the accusations. I
> suggest taking some time to read our board's by-laws and unit agreement
> <http://www.bridgeinseattle.org/#/board/>, and the ACBL CDR
> <http://www.acbl.org/conduct-and-ethics/code-of-disciplinary-regulations/>
> (referenced by the by-laws and unit agreement) to familiarize yourself with
> responsibilities as a board member and the ethics and conduct expected of
> players and officials, given that we are all involved now, like it or not.
> I am no expert, but there are many parts of both the accusations and the
> way that they manifested to the board that raise concerns for me given the
> CDR and our by-laws, no matter the intentions of anyone involved. ACBL HQ
> HR may also need to investigate given that current and former employees are
> involved.
>
> Finally, I think we have to be cognizant of how our treatment of this will
> reflect on us as a unit and district, no matter the outcome of any
> election. I'm sure we all want our players to feel welcome to play *as
> well as* to volunteer and serve in any capacity in our governance. I have
> served in a large and well-known organization before this where members
> serving in leadership were targeted and harassed. I'm no longer in that
> organization because of how its leadership failed to deal with the
> situations that arose.
>
> Thanks,
> JC
>
>
> --
> JC Chupack
> Seattle ACBL Unit 446 <http://bridgeinseattle.org> Secretary, Electronic
> Contact, & Publicity Chair
>
> On Tue, Aug 7, 2018 at 4:29 PM, LARRY HOLDREN <larryholdren at comcast.net>
> wrote:
>
>> I agree we  should hear his side.
>>
>> Larry
>>
>> *From:* Raymond Miller <raysmiller at gmail.com>
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, August 07, 2018 1:45 PM
>> *To:* Seattle ACBL Unit Board <sbuboard at mailman.celestial.com>
>> *Subject:* [SBU Board] Alarming Accusations
>>
>> HI all,
>>
>> I have been conversing with Tim the issue and now feel that I need to
>> present this to the entire board and get a quick consensus.
>>
>> I am very disturbed about the allegations against Bryan.  To me the
>> allegations do not hang together.  This smells very like a well planned
>> character assassination and not a legitimate beef against a fellow
>> employee.  There are 3 areas of concern that I believe warrant further
>> action on our part.  1.  When Brian left headquarters to move to Seattle he
>> was allowed to continue in his position remotely ( I hear he was asked to
>> do this by his bosses).  Ann and I see this as a requiring a great deal of
>> trust and respect.  Not something accorded to a trouble maker and non-team
>> player. 2.  The allegation that Bryan misappropriated funds.  A crime.  Yet
>> there have been no consequences for this supposed crime.  3.  Last fall
>> Bryan taught on a cruise run by an ACBL client. This doesn't sound like an
>> activity the league would have allowed if Bryan were a person in bad
>> standing.
>> I understand the need to keep this issue confidential.  But I feel that
>> is conflict with what we should do.  I believe that Bryan should be
>> informed of these charges and given the chance to answer them in front of
>> the board as soon as possible.  I do not feel the board can make a fair
>> choice in the upcoming election without hearing from Bryan.  Anyone in his
>> position should have the right to answer these charges.
>>
>> Therefore I am asking the board to vote Yes or No.  Bryan should be given
>> a hearing before the board to answer these charges and should be informed
>> in full of nature and specifics of the charges.  That should take place at
>> the September meeting.
>>
>> Please note, I believe this is a very delicate matter and that Tim has
>> handled it well thus far.  I do not want the letter Tim read to us to be
>> made available to Bryan in full, because I do not think he needs to know
>> who was involved in receiving information and passing it on on our end.
>> Please carefully consider your position, send out any comments you have and
>> send on your decision as soon as possible.
>>
>> Thank you for reading this and thank you ahead of time for tackling this
>> very difficult situation.
>>
>> Ray
>>
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