[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Use Your Vote Wisely

  • From: InquestGSD@xxxxxxx
  • To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 20:45:39 EDT

Mrs. Joan  F. Fox 17500 Haskins Rd. Chagrin Falls, Ohio
Sept 3, 2009

Dear GSDCA members:

Allow me to address the future of  The GSDCA, your important vote in this
election, and my personal experience  with individuals who have served  
our club.  I have deep respect  for many of my fellow board members who have
worked beside me during the past  6 years and am saddened to see that  
some others are also not running  for re-election.

The intent of this letter is explained in the paragraphs  below.

Nancy Harper and Carmen Battaglia are running for the board. They  have  
been dishonest, have lied to the board, did so with intent and  caused the  
board to vote with false information.  This is what  can cause the club  
liability, and we need to stop it with our  votes.

Use your vote wisely.

Based upon all of the information  that my attorneys and I have been able
to compile, it appears as though Mr.  Battaglia used Rosalind Kraus (a  
former Field Rep for the AKC) to  fabricate letters to the GSDCA Board 
stating  
that I had violated a  judging rule.

Further, letters were sent to some of the winners of the  2007 SE
Maturity/Futurity competition revoking their wins at that show which  I
judged.  The American Kennel Club is not able to confirm that  the  
letters sent to these unfortunate owners of the revocation of  their dogs' 
wins  
were issued by any department of the American Kennel  Club.  Both the AKC
President, Dennis Sprung and its' chief legal  counsel, Margaret  
Poindexter, have confirmed in writing that the  contents of the judges 
files are
confidential and no one but the Judges  Operations Department personnel  
have access to those files.

Mr.  Battaglia's conduct is not only an egregious abuse of his position  
as  a Director of the GSDCA, but also as a Director of the American Kennel  
 
Club Mr. Battaglia's willingness to flaunt the law and his ethical and   
fiduciary obligations to these two entities in order to exercise a  
personal  
grievance against me simply because he thinks he can get away  with doing 
so speaks
volumes for why he is neither competent nor trustworthy  to remain as a
Director of either the GSDCA or the AKC.

Most of you  are aware that I have been fighting a political and personal
battle for 2 1/2  years.  Nancy Harper worked side by side with Mr.  
Battaglia and  is far from innocent in her role.  Below are the events, 
which led   
to the statement above.

I am not now, or ever been, disciplined, set  down, or sanctioned by
the AKC.  The AKC has written that my judging  record remains clear.
In 2006, The GSDC Eastern Tennessee asked me to judge  their show
April 29th 2007.  I rescinded the assignment when invited to  judge
the SE Futurity/Maturity April 22nd, 2007.

AUGUST 2007: MRS.  HELEN FRANKLIN wrote a letter with incorrect
information to the AKC and Nancy  Harper. She was not an exhibitor or
attendee at this show. This followed many  documented threats to my
daughter and me after the 2006 National. She also  sent another even
more libelous and disgusting letter to AKC in June  2009.  Nancy
Harper, Futurity Chairperson, did not notify me about Ms.  Franklin's 
letter.

Nancy Harper supplied the AKC Field Rep. the names of  the winners of the
SE Fut/Mat, handled by Jeff Pyle as the AKC did not have  the information on
a special GSDCA event.

Letters were mailed to the  winners to revoke the wins.

October 3rd, 2007 a letter was sent to me  from The AKC Field Rep,
Rosalind Krause, stating that the wins from the SE  Futurity/Maturity
were taken away from exhibitors who utilized Jeff Pyle as  their
handler.  The AKC letter stated that I judged The GSDC of  Eastern
Tennessee and this assignment caused a handler/judge conflict.   Unknown
to me, letters from a Field Rep is not standard AKC protocol; the  AKC  
Judges Department is the authorized entity to handle any  complaints and  
interact with  judges.

I immediately  contacted Evan Ginsburg, AKC Board Trial Member. Mr.
Ginsburg wrote a letter  to The AKC; dated October 8th 2007.  The
letter states that the AKC's  letter was in error.  I did not judge
The GSDC of Eastern  Tennessee.  Mr. Ginsburg further explained the
urgency in the removing  these wrongful charges, as our National
Futurity/Maturity Finals was to occur  October 17th.
Ms. Krause did not respond to the rebuttal letter. Sadly,  Nancy
Harper removed these winners from the catalogue and the owners were  not
able to show their dogs at the GSDCA National Futurity/Maturity  finals.

At the time, there was also a controversy about The  NW
Futurity/Maturity and the 4-month AKC rule being broken.  A  handler
exhibited under the judge for whom he showed dogs in the 4  prior
month time frame.  This was not mentioned in the AKC letter sent  to
me October 3rd.  Nancy Harper was fully aware that Jeff Pyle never  in
his lifetime exhibited a dog for me prior to my judging the  SE
Futurity/Maturity.  I did not break The AKC 4-month rule.

June  2008.  The AKC Field Rep wrote a letter to Nancy Harper; not  to
me.  The AKC letter stated that a conflict of interest occurred,  but
no disciplinary action was taken against me still based on the  erroneous
letter.

July 2008. Nancy Harper dictated a letter to the  GSDCA corresponding
secretary without Board approval. The letter stated that  I violated
Rule #14, the same the 4-month rule the NW Futurity/Maturity  judge
broke. On GSDCA letterhead, I was informed that I had been  suspended
from judging any GSDCA event for a period 0f 5 years. Note: Rule  #14
in the contract states that judges agree to perform a loose  lead
temperament test.  It was not until the Jan. 2009 Board Meeting  that
a motion was passed to implement the new 4-month rule.

I  contacted 2 attorneys, Evan Ginsburg and Ed Farrell.  The  GSDCA
corresponding secretary was notified that my constitutional  rights
had been violated.  The GSDCA Policy and Procedures had not  been
followed.  A three-person committee had not been convened,  as
explicitly required. Both attorneys pointed out that no charges  with
fees had been filed against me with the GSDCA as required by the  By-
Laws.

January 2009. My attorneys could not attend the GSDCA Board  meeting
held in Las Vegas.  A meeting was conducted to discuss the  5-year
suspension given to me.  MR. CARMEN BATTAGLIA waved around  pages
before and during the Board meeting that he claimed were  letters
against me from my file at AKC. Names of a Board member's  daughter,
as well as Mrs. Franklin, were used as writers and MR. BATTAGLIA  told
the Board I had other letters in my file. MRS. HARPER concurred.
I  read the letters from my attorneys and explained the errors.  I
finally  gave up trying to reason, as it was chaotic with people
yelling at me. Board  members voted after stating they were not sure
what was going on. I was told  to get information from AKC and get
back to the Board.

MRS. HARPER  stated that I should have taken the 2 years probation
offered me. This  probation was never offered me.

I wrote the head of the Judges Dept. at  AKC three times for letters
in my file.  Mr. Peter Gaeta told me there  were no letters in my
file.

I then hired Attorney, Lisa Summers. Ms  Summers wrote a letter to the
Board and pointed out the  violations of  the By-Laws and P&P, the
errors in the original charges and asked for  withdrawal  of the
imposed penalty.

We received no answer or even  an explanation as to what the Board
required.  Ms. Summers again wrote  the Board with even more strongly
wording that the Board redresses its  position.

At the July meeting, MR. CARMEN BATTAGLIA pushed through a  motion
that I withdraw my lawsuit against the GSDCA. That would be  difficult
as there is no lawsuit. Again, I graciously gave the Board a  30-day
extension to reply.

August 2009. My attorney, Lisa Summers,  wrote a letter to Mrs.
Margaret Poindexter, General Counsel for AKC. She  requested answers
to many questions and among them, asked how did MR.  BATTAGLIA acquire
letters he waived at the board meeting found in my judge's  file?

Mrs. Poindexter and my attorney are still in communication.   Mrs.
Poindexter did confirm that the files of the Judging Operations  are
confidential and are maintained electronically. No one other  than
Judging Operations staff has access to said files.

In  closing:

As a board member in early 2007, I vehemently opposed allowing  Mr.
Andrew Hunte to become a member of The GSDCA.  Mr. Hunte may  have
been Mr. Battaglia's friend and employer; but I felt strongly  about
Mr. Hunte's lack of integrity by running a business through  puppy
mill operations.  When Mr. Hunte's membership was denied; I was  told
I would be in jeopardy.

Mr. Battaglia was further angered when I  strongly questioned the
forgery he put on GSDCA letterhead recommending him  as The GSDCA
Delegate and signing the then President Lew Bunch's signature on  the
bottom, with an incorrect spelling of Mr. Bunch's first  name.

Would I change my vote in light of all this? NO!

There is NO  lawsuit filed by me against the GSDCA or any of the Board
members. I am still  seeking answers and am hoping this can be
resolved without any further damage  being done to the club.

It is regrettable that this letter needs to have  been written. I am
especially concerned for those exhibitors irreparably  harmed.  I am  
trying to right this for you as well as  myself.

I have always kept these words in my heart and mind:
Never be  afraid to speak the words in your heart.
Never worry about what others think  of these words.
Never cower in condemnation
No one is superior to you: no  one has the right to change your beliefs.
Stand tall against those that  criticize out of ignorance or personal  bias
Your truth is your  reality.

Believe in yourself.

 
Joan F. Fox

Anyone wishing clarification may contact my  Attorney: Ms. Lisa  
Summers, 9010 Tyler Blvd., #21 A, Mentor, Ohio  44060. I may be reached at 
440-759-4119 or 440-543-9165 and will be happy to try and  answer your 
questions.



 


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