Question: In a recent committee meeting, the Chair launched a tirade against a Committee member because they disagreed with a decision made by the Committee. Is this permissible?
Upon opening of, or immediately preceding a Committee Meeting, is it permissible for the Chair to launch a tirade against another Executive Committee member simply because that member disagrees with a decision made by the Committee?
Belittling other Committee members in front of all present seems to me to be totally inappropriate and unacceptable. I have never seen this before on any Committee anywhere.
Answer: This is not how an effective committee should run.
Is it permissible? Well there are no provisions under Queensland’s strata legislation prohibiting belittling or tirades. Nor are there really provisions against verbal abuse, if you want to call it that. There are by-laws, and provisions about nuisance, and it is possible either or both of them might apply to this situation. That said I wouldn’t be recommending either of those approaches here, they are unlikely to solve anything.
I agree with you that this is not how an effective committee should run. Is there someone willing to take the chair aside and have an honest chat with them about their conduct? If so I’d recommend that as the start point. Perhaps the chair was having a particularly bad day (not trying to excuse their behaviour, of course) or has some issues happening in their life that led to the conduct. Putting that aside, if the chair doesn’t want to hear that, or continues on with their conduct, then consideration might need to be given to taking action such as having the chair removed from the committee.
This post appears in Strata News #625.
Chris Irons Strata Solve E: chris@stratasolve.com.au P: 0419 805 898