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I got a letter from my council exec. Removing me from scouting. Someone complained about me to the council and I was axed after 30 some years as a Scouter. They will not tell me what the complaint was or who made the complaint. I would like to know if there is any appeal process or if I have any rights at all. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Bill

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Sorry to hear about this, but in this day and age the minority whiners are the winners. 

 

If the police didn't show up on your door step, I'm assuming it is a bogus charge.

 

Someone will eventually spill the beans, but I don't know if there is any real recourse, at least I've never heard of any.

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The Scout Executive signed the letter?  No details? Are you a "Pro"  or a volunteer? 

 Do you have a talking relationship with your DE?  Do you know anyone else in Council (Wood Badge,  OA,  Camp Director...?) you can speak to ?  Anyone in your unit/district? Someone has an "inkling" of what this is really about.   Seek an intermediary that can speak for you.  

I have had a somewhat similar experience, tho not so drastic.   I politely asked, and asked and asked. Different people, different views.  No voice raising, just persistence, Scout to Scout.  I pointed to my Scout record, training, I even asked many friends both in and out of Scouting to write letters of reference for me,  which was very gratifying, finding out how many folks held me in such high esteem.   Eventually, I found someone who would speak to me and I found out the truth of the matter and successfully dealt with it. 

I would first ask for an interview with the SE, since the letter of removal came from him,  to review the situation.  Politely, gently, speak to your otherwise good record ( no blemishes? search your own record for ANY possibility. Be honest with yourself) ) and your incredulity at such a mysterious letter.  Refusal of an in person interview?  Craft a letter to send.  Have it reviewed by folks you trust before sending it.  Make no threats, just be persistent in seeking the truth of the matter.   And go from there.

Such a letter , like  "social media" can have unforeseen consequences.  You need to know the realities of this.  

 

Good Luck.

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yeah, sounds like a bum deal for sure.... a real kick in the gut.

 

But there is bound to be a story here.  Usually thing like this would build up.... even just a bit and you would at least sorta know in your gut who or what....

 

 

I just hope you can find to put it to rest peacefully, one way or another...

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Yah, hmmm...

 

This seems to be gettin' more frequent as da BSA shrinks and da pros get squeezed.  We've had some bad cases of SEs removing volunteers who were whistleblowers on da SE's fraud and mismanagement.   Da SE is supposed to conduct an investigation before takin' any action.

 

What's your current position in Scouting?  Are you a council/district volunteer or a unit volunteer?   If you're da former, the SE can simply choose not to renew your membership in the same way a COR can choose not to renew the membership of a unit leader.   That's different than being "removed from Scouting" which involves puttin' yeh in the national ineligible volunteer files.  In da former case yeh could still volunteer for a unit.

 

So I reckon we need da backstory a bit if we're goin' to give yeh any real guidance.  Did yeh piss off da SE?  Are yeh havin' some sort of dispute with a parent or boy in your unit?  Do yeh think yeh might be da victim of the new "zero tolerance" YP mandatory reportin' nonsense?   Yeh have to help us out.

 

In general terms, if you're bein' removed from Scouting and made an ineligible volunteer, then yeh can appeal it to da region/national.  The process is long and slow and opaque and rarely successful.  It usually involves playin' really nice and kissin' a lot of behinds, eh?  Effectively it's da same thing as gettin' the SE to change his mind.

 

Also in general terms, yeh have to ask how willin' yeh are to fight this, eh?  There is da adversarial route as well, which dependin' on circumstances may be the better choice.  If da SE isn't forthcomin' about the reasons, the legal route may require yeh to initiate a John Doe slander suit and depose the SE to figure out who said what about yeh, and then go after them.  Once yeh out and discredit whoever said bad things about yeh, then yeh go back to the SE and the appeals process demonstratin' the accusations were false and malicious.

 

Or other possible routes, eh?   What's da backstory?

 

Beavah

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Yah, hmmm...

 

This seems to be gettin' more frequent as da BSA shrinks and da pros get squeezed.  We've had some bad cases of SEs removing volunteers who were whistleblowers on da SE's fraud and mismanagement.   Da SE is supposed to conduct an investigation before takin' any action.

 

Seen the retaliation against whistleblowers up close: one long term scouter and one professional. Long term Scouter had his membership permanently revoked, do not know all the details on that but have ideas. Professional caught fraud issues and was "rewarded" with a promotion to a SE position for a council that was smaller than the service area one of the FDs he supervised had. Yep, went from a DFS of a metro council to SE of one of the smallest councils in the nation.

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I was a assistant scoutmaster. I held rolls in the district and council leadership. Wood badge, silver beaver, etc. It was reported to the SE by a de that I made a statement in front of a group of leaders at a camporee that I "did not like the se". I do not remember making the statement but was not given an opportunity to refute the claims. I was removed from all leadership positions in the district and council except for working with my troop. Last week I got the letter removing me from scouts. No information about an appeal process or details as to why I was removed. Calls to the scout office have not been returned. I sent a letter to the se and the council commissioner requesting information on making an appeal and requesting information on all claims made against me. A scout professional I know stated that the se should be in trouble for not making me aware of the appeals process. I will be sending a letter to BSA national counsel under the whistle blower policy for not following BSA policy on the appeals process. I am most upset in that I have never been told exactly what I did or said or given a chance to disprove claims made against me. The old guilty until proven innocent theme but nor it's guilty because I say you're guilty.

Again, any insight or recommendations on how to proceed would be appreciated.

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