# Problematic Member



## TheGuruat12 (Sep 16, 2010)

Hello all!

Our Stage Crew is having a major problem, in the form of a certain member. This person does not follow any safety guidelines, will not follow directions of senior crew members, and has physically assaulted a member and broken his arm.

The real problem is that whenever we confront the person, they simply threaten to call their lawyer about the legality of being removed from the club.

Any suggestions?


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## Studio (Sep 16, 2010)

I'm assuming you go to a High School, if so first have a talk with your school administrators about said student, and see if there is a school policy regarding clubs and student involvement. (there most likely is)

Also, does your school make every student sign a wavier when they join a club? I know at my school we have to (it basically says that we have to follow school rules in the club) or your won't be allowed to participate in the club.


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## Footer (Sep 16, 2010)

Do you have a faculty advisor? They really should be the one to deal with this. It will have to go through the administration of your school.


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## misterm (Sep 16, 2010)

if they are endangering themselves or others, you have every right to boot them. get a concerned group together to talk to your director/teacher about it first, and let them approch the admins. they will definitely back you up in a case such as this. there is very little legally that person can do. in fact, if they have already caused harm, they could be sued. personally, as a teacher, that person would never be allowed back in after assaulting someone else. i'd have the school resource officer arrest them (had to do that once). but your teacher can only help you if they are aware of the problem. we don't know every little detail if you dont tell us.


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## Edrick (Sep 16, 2010)

Based on your profile and from the sounds of it you're in High School. So the likely hood this kid is going to have a "lawyer" who is going to come after you guys is unlikely. Anyways the school administration should be dealing with it and it's a school club a lawyer can't do anything.


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## DuckJordan (Sep 16, 2010)

one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet but probably should, If in fact he is causing problems why doesn't the teacher / school administration notice this? Are you giving us the full story or is it more along the lines of a group of you don't like this one so your going to make him sound like a bad guy. Unless you are getting him out of the program because of race or age or gender, the lawyer isn't going to be able to do anything as far as the club is concerned. Not only that but it sounds like an idle threat that really has nothing to do with the situation, there are very few kids in high school who have their own lawyers and even less have the money or the parental backup to sue a club for booting them for "non-safe practices"


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## Dover (Sep 16, 2010)

First off is the club school sponsored or on school grounds? If so go to the administration tomorrow and let them know of the problem and ask for their help. If not and you or the perpetrator is a minor you need to get an authority figure involved as soon as possible. If someone’s arm was broken as a result of an attack this has gone beyond the realm of a club dispute and has entered into the criminal realm of assault and battery. If the victim was a minor then it will be up to the victims parents to decide whether to press charges or not, but the mere fact that this occurred make it a very serious matter. If this occurred on school property the student will likely be suspended or expelled for his actions. As for removing him from the club does the club have a charter of other founding document or some kind of joining agreement that could be used to boot him? If not I would deal with the assault first and worry about the club membership later, as it stands the problem will probably solve itself if he assaulted another student as you said.

Hope this helps
Dover


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## madeye (Sep 16, 2010)

TheGuruat12 and i attend the same high school and are in the crew together. Our crew at our high school hasn't had a actual stage manager for the past two years, myself and others have taken on the responsibility of running the club. For legal issues we still need to have a club sponsor, this year it is our Vice Principal. As he is not our stage manager and only our sponsor he hasn't attended any events this year, and the crew member involved is smart enough to not be problematic when our sponsor is present. regarding the broken arm, it didn't occur on stage crew time but outside of the crew, though it was still to a member of the crew. Broken arm excluded he has a violent history, e.g. picking a crew member up from by his neck. in regards to your comment DuckJordan, we are attempting on expelling him from the group because of his violent history, lack of respect for administrators and fellow crew, disregard for safety, inability to follow instructions, disregard of others personal property/boundaries, and he is a distraction when other crew members try to do their jobs and he is not.


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## dvsDave (Sep 16, 2010)

If he has attacked another student, and there are other students who witnessed this, you all need to meet with your principal, or a trusted guidance counselor and let them know. Attacking another student like that is grounds for expulsion from the school, or a required transfer to another school.


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## misterm (Sep 17, 2010)

madeye, you and guruat and the rest of the group still need to discuss it with the sponsor. if enough people are present as witnesses to his insubordination and the problems he causes, your sponsor will have little choice to intervene, regardless of how little they are involved. you came here for advice, thats the best you'll get, period. there are plenty of us who are fulltime theatre teachers in some capacity and can tell you for certain that this is your best option.


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## Morydd (Sep 17, 2010)

You should probably also address the fact that your "sponsor" is not attending club functions. It is the sponsor's job to be present and available in situations just like this, that is why you're required to have a sponsor for your club. If you don't trust the sponsor to take action, take it up with _any_ other faculty member you do trust to act on your behalf.


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## madeye (Sep 17, 2010)

Thank you misterm for the advice, i will do That at the next available time. In know why did I attend to come across as unthankful for the advice given and the whole purpose of my post was to attempt to provide more information on the situation, I'll try to be more clear next time.


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## madeye (Sep 30, 2010)

Hey everyone, I would just like to say thanks for all the advice it really helped. Our crew created a petition with a paper on the issues we were having and it seemed to fix for now. Our sponsor put the problematic member on probation and will expel him if there is any more problems. He is also going to start attending a majority of our meetings and work time, and is going to keep an eye on him. Thanks again for everything


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## len (Sep 30, 2010)

I would document on paper, so there is a provable history of attempts to remove this person. If they end up harming someone and it can be proven that they had a history of this and no one made any attempts to safeguard the situation, it could be worse for everyone. Get it in writing, keep notes of every conversation, and video if possible. Violent behavior isn't something to mess with. The only way to protect yourself is to leave a paper trail.


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## LampieTheClown (Oct 4, 2010)

Pipe Coming In!

Bonk!

Sorry....

Repeat as needed.

Joking, of course, but that's how the old guys did it.


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## ijvpjr (Feb 3, 2013)

I like the good old "can you go stand over there on that "x" for me?" "OOOPs!!! Honest officer, the sand bag accidentally fell on him 22 times"


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## gafftaper (Feb 5, 2013)

Note: This thread is over 2 years old. Feel free to comment further if you like, but be aware it's an old topic.


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