Dispute over the  Board of Directors

It all started with my resignation.

It’s worth noting that my last day as CEO at work was on May 18th, and in June, I went on a previously planned vacation. At the time of my resignation, employees and volunteers were very concerned about the situation. Management and its absence, along with my resignation and the resulting loss of a sense of security, triggered reactions from people. They demanded my return to work, requested a meeting with the Board – which indicated that they would consider my return, but it was pure dilution of the truth.
Throughout this whole period, there was no willingness from the Board to meet with me, engage in dialogue, or have a conversation.

One of the most important persons for the organization was Mrs. Ewa Ikwanty, who, as one of the longest-serving individuals in the organization, understood the reasons for my resignation, as she herself had difficulty obtaining a contract for herself and was very close to leaving Together-Razem a year earlier, i.e., in 2022.
She saw how hard I worked to develop the organization and, as a full member of the organization, asked difficult questions of the Board, demanding intervention.
Employees, volunteers were concerned about the Board’s inaction, and they expressed their stress in a survey conducted with them in July 2023 after the meeting with the Board of Directors on June 6, 2023. Almost all individuals participated in the survey with the option of anonymity.
Here are just 5 responses to the survey from employees:

Mrs. Ewa

Mrs. Ewa was the coordinator of the social advise program and the senior group “Active Together,” and she was also involved in preparing the quarterly magazine “Po Polsku.” She was also nominated by the Board to access to the bank account since 2018 and enjoyed immense trust from all employees and volunteers.
Mrs. Ewa, along with other employees, wanted to know the truth, wanted to find out why the Board had led to the situation of the resignation of the organization’s main leader. She requested a meeting of the employees with the Board. Such a meeting took place on June 4, 2023, with an incomplete Board present, but nothing came out of it except, as the employees claimed in the surveys, intimidation, harassment, and conveying falsehoods that I resigned for health reasons and to return to Poland to care for my sick mother. Mrs. Accountant was very active, frightening people with the Gardai and the Charity Regulator.

Knowing about these lies, I sent a letter to the staff to explain the falsehoods, also attaching members of the Board to the letter – here is the content of the letter:

Through her actions related to attempting to clarify the situation regarding the lack of organization management, by asking questions, requesting meetings with the Board, collecting feedback and surveys from employees, and above all, by refusing to succumb to pressure to sign blank cheques, harassment of Ewa began.
Initially, she was deprived of her office keys and thus access to the workplace, and later suspended from work without access to email and work tools.

Since July 2023, Mrs. Ewa has been suspended and not working, and her attempts to clarify the situation on her part are met with silence.

Seeing that there is no willingness for cooperation and dialogue from the Board’s side and considering the organization’s best interests as a full member of the organization, Mrs. Ewa consulted with the remaining members of the organization on what to do and formally requested the Board to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting.

The Board had time

Unfortunately, the Board had no intention of listening to its members and convening a meeting.
The Board did not want to face a vote of no confidence and meet to clarify everything.
Members of the organization wanted to talk and were ready to address the crisis situation in the organization.

Then, based on consultations with a friendly solicitor, Mr. Marcin from Dublin, and based on the organization’s Constitution, the process of convening an Extraordinary General Meeting of organization members began.
According to the organization’s Constitution, if the Board did not voluntarily convene a meeting after 21 days of waiting, members could undertake to convene such a meeting.

Excerpt from the constitution:

Extraordinary General Meeting of Members

As part of the convened Extraordinary General Meeting, the Board received a list of allegations with the opportunity to address them and to be heard during the meeting.

Please note the last paragraph – we all wanted to meet to talk.

The official notice of the General Meeting was sent by Mrs. Ewa on June 19th to comply with the 21-day period as stipulated by the rules of our constitution.

Unfortunately, they did everything to prevent this meeting, including changing locks on doors, avoiding dialogue, or searching for paragraphs to accuse the improper calling of the meeting .

Moreover, speaking with the words of the Company Secretary, they intimidated with solicitors and consequences, doing everything to avoid changes in the Board’s structure.

Because of this, even the date was delayed by one week from July 4th to July 11th.

Twice I requested a meeting before the General Meeting itself, I wrote emails requesting that we meet and discuss to resolve the crisis. However, there were no intentions from their side for dialogue.

Here are the emails:

The Extraordinary General Meeting

The Extraordinary General Meeting took place on July 11, 2023, unfortunately in the corridor outside the Together-Razem office, as we were not allowed entry to our headquarters. Additionally, the receptionist specifically did not come to work at the direction of the Board so that we could not enter the premises. The meeting took place in a hybrid format, as some members connected remotely.

Three of the directors were removed from their positions, and a new Board was appointed. I resigned from the position of CEO in order to become the Chairman of the new Board without any compensation and to guide the organization through this crisis. Members also made a decision in the form of a resolution to enter the office and secure the Together-Razem office with new locks.