[sac-board] Re: SAC Constitution and Proposed Amendment 2.0

Allow me to elaborate by presenting a hypothetical dramatization 
(over-dramitization?) (IMO an
admittedly unlikely scenario that could lead to litigation):

The club decides to host a special star party and advertises it on their 
website, in their
newsletter, in national astro publications and on flyers available at its 
meetings. A special web
page is developed to assist with the participant's logistics - maps, 
directions, etiquette, etc. -
all manner of detail relative to this event is available here, and folks have 
been steered to this
site through the advertising efforts. At the event site a couple of 
porta-potties are available,
each equipped with a small blinking red LED to aid in nighttime navigation.
During the night one of the participants is taking a break from his observing. 
He decides to walk to
one of the facilities to answer the call of nature. On the way back to his 
telescope, he steps into
a hole causing him to fall. He gets up, feeling slightly embarrassed and makes 
his way back to his
telescope.
The next morning, as he is packing up for the drive back to his home state, he 
notices discomfort
and swelling in his ankle. He decides to see his doctor when he gets home. He 
does that, and
discovers that he has managed to break a bone in his ankle. After talking with 
his family, he
decides to seek assistance with his medical bill from the event's sponsor.
The club receives his request and contacts its insurance agent. The agent 
reviews the claim and
decides that the insurance doesn't cover the injury. He indicates the reason as 
being that the site
wasn't specifically identified in the policy.
The injured attendee retains a lawyer who then serves the club with a lawsuit. 
The club retains a
lawyer and the legal proceeding begins. Likely the medical bill for a broken 
bone wouldn't exceed
the club's liquid assets, but in this example we'll assume there was some 
complication. Also, the
injured party is upset because the insurance didn't just cover his bill. Now 
his lawyer is seeking
treble damages, which far exceed what cash the club can raise. The suit 
contends that the club
didn't take the necessary actions to ensure for a safe event by locating the 
'facilities' in a place
that required attendees to navigate rough terrain in the dark.
It is this scenario when the officers and directors may be exposed financially, 
since there is no
vehicle that separates them from the club.

This is not meant to scare anyone. I just see this kind of scenario -- which I 
believe to be
extremely unlikely to ever occur -- as being the kind of situation that would 
make things like
incorporation and liability waivers nice to have.

Would a signed liability waiver have helped our cause in the example above? 
Maybe so, maybe not -
probably so. It may be argued that since the attendee had driven 1,500 miles to 
attend the event and
was informed at 'the gate' that he would have to sign a waiver or leave, he 
signed under what the
lawyer termed 'duress'. The judge, having never heard of a star party before 
the proceedings began,
agrees.

Anyway, all of this melodramatic rambling was intended to have you think about 
actual scenarios
where all of this may play out and what efforts we should take to lessen their 
already remote
possibilities.

It is my belief that SAC could happily continue just as it is today -- 
unincorporated and
waiver-free -- without ever experiencing any legal difficulties.

Peter  

-----Original Message-----
From: sac-board-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:sac-board-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On 
Behalf Of Paul
Dickson
Sent: Friday, July 22, 2005 7:46 AM
To: sac-board@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [sac-board] Re: SAC Constitution and Proposed Amendment 2.0

On Tue, 19 Jul 2005 11:02:22 -0700, Jeff Hopkins wrote:

> I believe Peter is correct that the members of an organization are not 
> liable only the board members. If incorporated, only the corporation's 
> assets are at stake.

Not entirely true.  IANAL, but in a suite for damages, board members and their 
assets can be brought
in.  It's most likely dependent on what the suite was about.  If board members 
sanctioned something
like a drag race at the observing site, then I can definitely see this 
happening.  But if they
behave like we normally do, then probably not.

I'm in favor incorporating, and I'm willing to help.  I just don't want to be 
the one doing all the
work to get it done.

        -Paul

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