Club X Guidelines Cause for Action Member Exclusion

This document is provided to assist you in your filing of a Cause For Action (CFA) against another member. The requirements for Membership exclusion are detailed in the Membership Exclusion Policy [MEP] which can be found on the Club X website (www.clubxsd.org) in the Documentation section. If you desire a paper copy of this policy please contact the ClubX Board of Directors [BOD]. This guideline does not set requirements but rather can act as a guide to set reasonable expectation of the process.

Membership exclusion is an extremely serious measure and should only be undertaken under the gravest circumstance.

Membership Exclusion is wholly intended for the protection of the club and not for resolution of personal grievance:

"Nothing in this Policy shall be the basis for a personal, unsubstantiated or bias cause for action."

The intent of the MEP is to prevent a member's actions from harming ClubX and hampering it in accomplishing its mission. To obtain the exclusion of a member involves a large quantity of the club's resources. In addition, by its very nature the process creates a large amount of dissention, divisiveness and contention. This, in itself, hampers the ClubX mission.

Please weigh your actions carefully. If, in your opinion, your decision to bring forward a Cause For Action will have more long or short term negative impact on the Club than the original grievance, you are respectfully requested to approach the BOD to find an alternative form of resolution. You are within your rights to proceed at any cost but please be considerate of the impact on the rest of the Club.

"Any member may bring a cause for action against another member or a nonmember before the Board at any regularly scheduled Board meeting. Any such complaints shall be in writing."

A Cause For Action must be given in writing at any regularly scheduled BOD meeting. Though there is no formal requirement for the form of this correspondence, there is an expectation of certain information being provided by the person filing the CFA. The following is not a complete list. It is intended to help you formulate clear, concise communication to the BOD as to the nature of your complaint. Likewise it helps you to eliminate material which would not be considered in your action and would cloud the issue.

There are two basic paths for exclusion of members:

• Those actions covered under the by-laws (i.e. nonpayment of dues)

• Those actions covered under the MEP

Those actions covered in the MEP fall into two categories:

• Actions at ClubX sponsored or controlled events

• Actions outside of ClubX sponsored event

If you are filing based on an incident at a "Club X sponsored or controlled event" the criteria is:

“A severe or repeated violation of the Rules at a Club X sponsored or controlled function."

Specifically not included are events in which ClubX participates but does not primarily sponsor or control.

Please include in the Cause for Action the following information:

• What specific rule was violated?

• Dates and times of the violation(s)

• Substantiation of the violation

If you are filing based on an incident occurring outside of a ClubX sponsored or controlled event the criteria are:

"An action, event or circumstance presents a clear, present and egregious threat to ClubX, its resources, its reputation, or its ability to continue on its mission."

In order to meet these cri teri a it must have all three elements of the threat.

• Clear - Concrete and consistent. Vague, unsubstantiated, or based on hearsay are not clear.

• Present - Existing now. Events subject to conjecture are not present. That something might occur is not sufficient cause.

• Egregious - Conspicuously bad. A small or insignificant threat is not sufficient cause for exclusion.

In addition, the concept of "Clear and Present Threat" comes from Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. A "clear and present threat" is one which a rational person is compelled to action. If an action would not move a rational person to action it is not sufficient cause for exclusion.

In addition to showing a threat it must be established concretely how this is a threat to ClubX directly. Threats which are indirect, while of grave concern, do not warrant exclusion from ClubX. Examples of indirect threats are "affects the credibility of the Leather community to the world at large." Or "harms the image of BDSM in the eyes of the vanilla community".

Even seemingly direct impact, as in "undermines the credibility of ClubX in the Kink community", must be thoroughly substantiated. Events which impact ClubX indirectly might warrant alternative forms of action but not member exclusion. We do not involve the Club in actions of members that are not directly related to ClubX. Likewise we do not involve ClubX in actions that are solely person to person. The threat must be to ClubX as a whole.

Timeline

Once your Cause for Action is filed with the BOD they will take a vote and respond to you within 15 days. The BOD will weigh if the Cause For Action, on it's face, has sufficient merit for further investigation by an MEP ad hoc committee. The BOD will not investigate the claim for accuracy or validity. This will be decided by the MEP committee, should it proceed to that point. A decision to form a MEP committee does not make a statement about the merit of the Cause For Action but only that the BOD believes it merits investigation. No board member may sit on a MEP committee.

If in the opinion of the majority of the BOD the Cause For Action does not warrant further investigation you will likewise be notified within 15 days.

Should you decide to appeal the decision of the board you must do so in writing in accordance with the by-laws.

Protection from retaliation

The BOD will not hear a Cause For Action from the accused solely based on the fact that you filed a motion with the BOD.

However, the accused maintains all other rights as protected by the by-laws. If they choose to file a Cause For Action based on some other action on your part, past or present, the BOD is required to hear it.

An exclusion process will be charged emotion. It would be prudent not to say or do thing which would give anyone opportunity for action against you under the MEP.

In conclusion, you are asked again to please consider an alternative form of resolution. Any BOD member would be happy to help you formulate such a course of action.

Yours in service,

The ClubX Board of Directors.