It is with some concern that I have to advise you, that, apart from the rather ‘generic’ retraction communication sent to select Club members, the Club has not received any additional communication regarding any steps taken for the retraction of each individual accusation.
Nor does it appear that there has been any retraction distributed to any of the 18 odd different persons/organisations allegedly contacted with this claim.
Given our request to do so has been ignored, we will now will be proceeding with the legal action which has been initiated.
Despite the following advice sent to the member:
“We also do not authorise any member to use our database to contact, write or email other members without the express written permission of the committee.”
We also note that the club’s database has again been used without authority.
Considering the damage done to the club’s reputation, and the expected legal costs involved to rectify this, we will be seeking to recover these through our legal representative.
Both myself and the Club reiterate that Bullying, Harassment or Discrimination will not be tolerated. “If you have been subjected to any Bullying, Harassment or Discrimination, please let us know, the Club has a documented policy and processes in place to investigate and deal with any such actions.”
We have been approached by a number of members who have been quite surprised by the allegations raised, as it has been stated that they themselves have been bullied and harassed by the very member raising the allegations.
The Club is in the process of documenting these claims, together with supporting evidence and witnesses. Once this step has been completed the Club will be investigating these serious claims, which will also be submitted to our legal team for consideration.
We have been approached by a number of members who are prepared to sign statutory declarations claiming they had been bullied and harassed by one of the members of the club, these members have supporting evidence and witnesses.
Thank you for showing your strong support, as you can imagine our secretary has been seriously affected by these accusations, so we apologise for any delay in communications, as we are doing our best to deal with all the additional work and pressure that Joan has been placed under, as we are very concerned at the toll this has taken on her health.
Thanks again for your support and understanding
Paul