Statement for the Chairman Regarding AGM of 14 April 2024
Apologies for the delay in this statement, legal advice has now been sought and as such please read below.
For those members who were unable to attend the meeting here is a brief synopsis of what
occurred that can be validated by anyone who was in attendance. There were 57 members
at the start of the meeting with 30 apologies given.
AGM matters started off being routinely discussed as per the AGM Agenda that had been
sent out to membership. When the proceedings reached the item on the agenda that dealt
with the Elected Officers for 2024/25 a Vice President stood up and proceeded to read out
only selected partial comments (without any context) from a transcript of a private
WhatsApp group conversation, thus sharing them with those present. It transpired that
none of the users in that group had given permission for their personal data to be used in
this manner. Which means that a member of that group, a committee member of the club,
had stolen the personal data and illegally shared it with people who had no right to see it.
Under the European laws of data protection, such personal information should never have
been stolen nor accepted, and certainly not shared in such a forum. The Club has a GDPR
policy which can be found on the Club’s website that clearly states in its first line of the
introduction that the BDC is committed to protecting personal information and respecting
privacy. This flagrant disregard of the club’s own GDPR policy of using other club members
personal data that had been knowingly stolen from outside the club and disseminating it
without any permission from those it belonged with everyone in the room ignored their
rights to privacy. This is injurious to the character and interest of the club and all those
members at that meeting with whom they shared illegally obtained personal data. Also by
verbally sharing this personal information they have broken the Data Protection Act 2018.
It would seem the main intent of reading aloud comments from the transcript, out of
context was for the sole purpose of bringing about a proposition for a vote of no confidence
in the Chairman. This seems to have been a premeditated act as it was bringing something
up for discussion that wasn’t included on the AGM agenda.
At no point did the Chairman of
the meeting acknowledge that it was a matter for urgent discussion at the AGM. The
Chairman was asked repeatedly to leave the room by the President so the matter could be
discussed.
The persistent nature of the President insisting he left the room meant that he
felt he had little choice left but to comply to prevent further haranguing. The Vice Chairman
was asked if she wished to chair the meeting, but she refused to step in to chair, which
opened up the opportunity for the Club’s President to step in.
Having taken over the
chairing of the meeting the President disrespected the Club’s own GDPR policy and broke
data protection laws in allowing items on the transcript to continue to be discussed.
The discussion culminated in a proposed vote of no confidence in the Chairman. A paper
vote was carried out, which resulted 34 For, 12 Against, 9 Abstentions, a total of 55.
According to the rules of the club a majority of two thirds of the vote is required for
decisions of this magnitude at an AGM or SGM. So this vote failed. However, the President
declared victory on the grounds of a simple majority instead. Resulting in the secretary and
majority of the committee, walking out in support of the chairman. Thus formally ending the
meeting.
The President chose to continue discussions which included the Treasurer who had
previously said he was stepping down saying he would remain and returned to the top table.
The Vice Chair and one of the remaining committee members tendered their resignations
but remained in the meeting.
This debacle means that the AGM was rudely interrupted and not officially concluded, so it
will need to be rescheduled and run again in the near future. For clarification your elected
Chairman and elected committee have not resigned.
However, a more important issue needs to be dealt with first. The small faction of individuals
who took it upon themselves to use illegally obtained personal data to disrupt this meeting
and run an unsanctioned vote of no confidence seem intent on usurping the committee and
forming an elicit committee of their own. We therefore propose that a special general
meeting be voted in and run as quickly as possible to prevent further fragmentation and
damage to our club. To express your support for this motion please get in touch using the
club official email secretary@britishdalmatianclub.org.uk
Last Updated 16th April 2024