I am a member of a non profit incorporated club. One of our officers went alone (against the advice of the board) to a 3rd party vendor to dispute a bill. An altercation insued and the police were called. The board member left the scene before police arrived. The city police issued a citation against him for this altercation.
The 3rd party who called the police later offerred to contact the city prosecutor and request that charges be dropped if our accused board member would write a letter of appology to their employee who was the alleged victim. The board agreed with this and asked our accused member to comply. Our board member refused. At this point a letter was sent to the 3rd party vendor who our organization has a continued relationship with clarifying that this board member has been relieved of any authority to conduct business with this vendor. He was not re-elected to the board in the following months.
He then decided to go to court regarding this misdemeanor charge and hire an attorney to represent himself. The club was not made privy to this. He made no further attempts to resolve or communicate any information regarding this situation to any club member.
The charges against him were dismissed at his hearing. He now is claiming that the club must pay for his legal representation fees of $2,000 under "Indemnification". The bill for fees is in his name and does not mention the club anywhere in the contract agreement. The representation contract states, "This agreement is made between (board member's name) client and (attorney's name) attorney." It also states, "Client is responsible for all charges".
This bill was incurred 2 months ago and states that a late fee will be incurred each month it is not paid. Our club is on summer hiatus and according to our by laws cannot approve or deny this request until Sept / Oct. The board member also refuses to pay the bill to stop the late fees from incurring.
Is our club responsible to pay this bill under "Indemniication" as written in the AZ revised statutes even though 1. this board member acted of his own accord when incurring these charges, 2. this board member did not follow the wishes of the club board and membership to try and resolve this matter by appologizing and avoiding court altogether, 3. the club was not given any say or notification on the decisions he made regarding legal representation and subsequent fees, and 3. The agreement/contract/bill states that he, the client, is responsible for the charges?
Thank you.
The 3rd party who called the police later offerred to contact the city prosecutor and request that charges be dropped if our accused board member would write a letter of appology to their employee who was the alleged victim. The board agreed with this and asked our accused member to comply. Our board member refused. At this point a letter was sent to the 3rd party vendor who our organization has a continued relationship with clarifying that this board member has been relieved of any authority to conduct business with this vendor. He was not re-elected to the board in the following months.
He then decided to go to court regarding this misdemeanor charge and hire an attorney to represent himself. The club was not made privy to this. He made no further attempts to resolve or communicate any information regarding this situation to any club member.
The charges against him were dismissed at his hearing. He now is claiming that the club must pay for his legal representation fees of $2,000 under "Indemnification". The bill for fees is in his name and does not mention the club anywhere in the contract agreement. The representation contract states, "This agreement is made between (board member's name) client and (attorney's name) attorney." It also states, "Client is responsible for all charges".
This bill was incurred 2 months ago and states that a late fee will be incurred each month it is not paid. Our club is on summer hiatus and according to our by laws cannot approve or deny this request until Sept / Oct. The board member also refuses to pay the bill to stop the late fees from incurring.
Is our club responsible to pay this bill under "Indemniication" as written in the AZ revised statutes even though 1. this board member acted of his own accord when incurring these charges, 2. this board member did not follow the wishes of the club board and membership to try and resolve this matter by appologizing and avoiding court altogether, 3. the club was not given any say or notification on the decisions he made regarding legal representation and subsequent fees, and 3. The agreement/contract/bill states that he, the client, is responsible for the charges?
Thank you.
