I promised people that I would update them on today’s events. Here is that update.
Before I get into the details, I want to urge everyone to be remain calm and be professional about this.
What was done today will not stand up because it doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
The last thing we need at Cedarbrae is more bad blood.
Bad blood will chase more customers away. That is the last thing that any of us want.
So here are the deets …
The Board presented me with this letter today.
It notifies me that they have unilaterally and without discussion decided to suspend my contract without mention of any specific grounds for this action.
The letter asks for my “cooperation and understanding” during the suspension as they review the contract “to ensure the integrity and best interests of the Cedarbrae Community League Association are achieved.”
Verbally, President John Seagrave informed me that the Board believes that there was a conflict of interest during contract negotiations. He claimed that the lawyer representing CCLA also represented me.
This claim made me smile because it is demonstrably false.
I represented myself in the negotiations.
Immediately after receiving this letter, I spoke to the board member who represented CCLA during negotiations to confirm this fact. It was confirmed and a letter expressing this confirmation was immediately sent to the CCLA.
So unless they have other grounds, this “temporary” suspension should be over.
In fact, I have notified them that unless they reverse course immediately, I will be suing CCLA for breach of contract — something I do not wish to have to do.
Whatever the Board’s motives, it is clear that they have not thought this through nor have they done sufficient due diligence.
You cannot simply suspend a contract because you think there might be grounds to invalidate it.
First, you need something reasonable to investigate.
If the conflict of interest described above was indeed suspected, then discussing it with the lawyer who represented CCLA would be reasonable due diligence.
Sadly, even this five-minute task was not undertaken.
While this certainly does not reflect well upon the new board, we should all remember that these folks are volunteers. They are not professional board members.
Like any group of volunteers, they can make mistakes.
As long as they work to correct these mistakes quickly, then all can be forgiven.
In the meantime, I have offered to continue coaching FOR FREE — as a volunteer — until the temporary suspension and their investigation is concluded.
I am willing to continue teaching everything I was teaching prior to this suspension at no cost to the CCLA. There is no need to hire an outside coach.
If everybody is acting in good faith, we should be able to have this all resolved before the end of business today because this is the only way “to ensure the integrity and best interests of the Cedarbrae Community League Association are achieved.”