Society for Creative Anachronism

Organizational Handbook General Information

Channels for Complaint and Appeal

The Board is the final court of appeal for disputes that have escalated beyond the ability of the participants or the officers to handle. However, it is reluctant to play that role because its rulings affect the entire Society - often by restricting everyone's freedom and reducing their enjoyment of the organization. Corpora provides an unlimited right of appeal to the Board, but members should make every effort to work out their disputes at as low a level in the organization as possible.

While it is not possible to prescribe a specific list of things to do or people to consult that will serve in all disputes, the general procedure outlined here should be adaptable to most of them. If you are directly involved in a dispute, please go through a process at least as comprehensive as this one before asking the Board for help. If you are asked to intervene in someone else's dispute because of the office or title you hold, please don't rush in. First urge the principals to try all measures recommended for attempting to reach a settlement without involving your level of the organization. Then, if you do intervene, make every effort to find a resolution the participants can accept, instead of escalating the dispute to higher levels of the organization.

A. PRINCIPLES

1. Avoid trouble. There are many valid approaches to Society activity. Members should make room for each other to explore anything that supports the Society's goals, abides by its rules, and does not actively interfere with the environment it attempts to create. In many cases, the best way to deal with a minor problem or disagreement is to act as though it doesn't exist. HOWEVER, the advice about ignoring problems in the hope that they'll fade away does not apply to breaches of the law. If you encounter illegal activities, your obligations as a citizen are the same as in any other aspect of your life. Please keep the officers of your branch and kingdom informed if you decide to invoke the assistance of outside authorities in ways that may require them to answer questions about the matter at hand or about the Society itself, but do not hesitate to exercise your civic duty as you see it.

2. Look for ways around hard choices. It may be possible to break a dilemma by taking up both alternatives, either together or at different times, instead of wasting energy arguing over which to choose. It may also be possible to find a third approach that both sides prefer to their original ideas.

3. Try to keep a sense of perspective. Just because you're unhappy, it doesn't mean you're right! Make an effort to listen to the arguments of the other side with good will and honesty, and look for a solution with which everyone can live.

4. Go through channels. If you can't solve the problem yourself, your requests for assistance should follow a line of authority without skipping anyone, and without spreading laterally through the organization any more than absolutely necessary. For example, when you reach a level that has royalty or royal representatives, include them on your copy list, but don't start out by copying all the royalty in your corner of the Known World on your initial complaint. Try to involve as few people as possible - the less you embarrass your opponent, the likelier you are to get a solution you can live with and not simply bury the dispute until it can resurface on different grounds.

5. Be patient. Allow each level time to try to deal with the situation, and avoid the temptation to attack the people you've asked for help if they don't seem to be moving fast enough to suit you.

B. PROCEDURES

1. Try to work things out face to face. When someone does something that interferes with your appreciation of the Society in a way you can't ignore, or that seems to be contrary to the rules, talk it over. Explain the problem as you see it, and listen to the reply. (Likewise, if someone comes to you, listen carefully before you frame your answer.) With luck and good will, the problem will go away. You'll find ways to reduce the level of irritation, you'll stop real rules violations, or you'll come to understand why things you thought were violations were actually legitimate activities. If you can't communicate, ask someone you and the other party both respect to help, either by relaying messages or by moderating a meeting between you. Try not to go to an officer in charge of the area in question, as such an officer may be tempted or compelled to make a ruling instead of letting you reach an informal agreement.

2. Write to the person you're having difficulty with. Describe the way you feel you're being damaged, without indulging in insults or threats. Ask for the action you feel would set things right, and indicate how long you feel you can wait for a reply before making further distribution of the complaint. Keep a copy of the letter, but do not send it to anyone but the addressee at this time. The written word is often more effective than the spoken word, so there's a good chance that this letter, or a series of direct letters and replies, will eventually lead you to a solution. As long as you feel you're making progress either in understanding or in getting your way, do not go on to step 3.

3. Write a more formal letter to the other party. Outline any new points you may have thought of and refer to your previous correspondence. Send a copy to the officer in charge of the area in question, OR to the royalty or royal representative nearest the level where you have a dispute. Depending on the situation, it may be a good idea to send copies of the letters you've already written or received on the matter with the copy of the current letter you send to the superior; if you are doing so, be sure to mention it in your letter. (It is very important to proceed openly as you pursue your complaint; things are tense enough already without adding a new--and justified--charge of sneakiness to the general dispute!) Again, set a reasonable time for a reply, and consider it carefully when it arrives. As with step 2, continue at this level as long as it looks like there's any progress.

4. Write directly to the officer in charge of the area in question, with copies to the subject of the dispute, the next higher officer, and the appropriate royalty or royal representative, if any. Explain how you feel you're being mistreated, and ask for specific help. Include the entire previous correspondence, if you have not already shared it with the officer--and mention the enclosures in the text. Evaluate the reply or replies before you decide to go forward.

5. Repeat step 4, moving up the organization and including everyone you've involved on your copy list. Follow your correspondents' advice as to whether or not anyone else at or below their level needs to be consulted. Eventually, you run out of levels.

6. If no one else has managed to find a solution, the Board will do so. However, there is no guarantee that you will like what they come up with, and there is nowhere else to turn. Even if you get something resembling what you originally asked for, the effect on the Society may well be regrettable, as the Board finds it almost impossible to deal with a specific situation without touching anything else.

While it appears cumbersome, this technique should reach some sort of resolution in a matter of months. The greatest number of levels between you and the Board is five, assuming a dispute between members of a canton whose barony is part of a principality. The important thing is getting a solution, NOT getting to the Board, and the approach outlined in this article will probably let you settle the matter without involving the corporate administration at all.