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Hello everyone. I'm seeking advice as I'm overwhelmed with stress due to a recent situation. (UK based)
I recently became a part of the board of directors of a small nonprofit organization that was struggling financially. We managed to secure some funding to launch a new program, which was a risky endeavor as it relied heavily on hiring the right person to manage it effectively. Despite our voluntary roles and other commitments such as full-time jobs and family, we dedicated extensive time and effort to ensure the success of the project.
Unfortunately, it became apparent that the person we hired for the managerial role was not suitable for the job. Concerns raised by staff members revealed that the manager was frequently absent from the office, failed to support the team, and provided excuses for not fulfilling essential job requirements. Upon investigation, it was discovered that they had not completed necessary coursework or fulfilled their job duties, and what's more had lied to several training providers, asking for extensions based on bereavements and illness (different reasons for each provider) which had never been mentioned to us.
The investigation brought up further evidence of deception, as well as the discovery that they had done absolutely nothing that they were being paid to do. Clients had been ignored, staff had been actively discouraged from responding to them, no systems were in place to manage them. This led to additional stress as we had to manage the fallout and pick up the pieces of a project that had been neglected for several months.
This person is still in their probation period, so we were advised that we did not really need to collect all of the evidence of gross misconduct as we could just say that we were not satisfied with their performance. After the meeting was held and they were informed of the investigation, they wrote us a long email with accusations of bullying, harassment, discrimination, and demanding a long list of documents after supposedly speaking to a solicitor. Given the piling evidence of deception and incompetence, we decided to terminate their contract immediately (they were invited to a meeting to conclude the investigation but made excuses as to why they couldn't make it).
They have since submitted a Subject Access Request for all information we hold on them, including minutes of all our meetings, and all our WhatsApp conversations mentioning them. Given that we are a small group of volunteers - and yet, legally speaking, we are directors of this organisation - are we legally obliged to hand over our WhatsApp conversations and emails referencing this person? If so, this seems very unfair; we have reason to believe that this is a vindictive individual, who may personally go after those who have instigated the investigation - they have already mentioned their intention to take a civil case against the directors, which may mean to personally sue us as individuals.
They have also demanded to see statements from other staff - again, it is such a small company, we don't think our staff would feel safe knowing that what they had written would be seen by this person. Don't we have a duty to protect them by refusing to give this information?
Furthermore, we lack the financial resources to seek legal advice, and the situation has left us in a a very precarious position financially, where we don't know if we will even be able to continue to employ the other staff members as we are likely to be forced to pay back the funder for not having completed the project goals. It's so sad, given that we were all moved by wanting to help with resolving social situations in our local area and were putting in our energy voluntarily, and this person seems determined to ruin us personally and as an organisation.
I recently became a part of the board of directors of a small nonprofit organization that was struggling financially. We managed to secure some funding to launch a new program, which was a risky endeavor as it relied heavily on hiring the right person to manage it effectively. Despite our voluntary roles and other commitments such as full-time jobs and family, we dedicated extensive time and effort to ensure the success of the project.
Unfortunately, it became apparent that the person we hired for the managerial role was not suitable for the job. Concerns raised by staff members revealed that the manager was frequently absent from the office, failed to support the team, and provided excuses for not fulfilling essential job requirements. Upon investigation, it was discovered that they had not completed necessary coursework or fulfilled their job duties, and what's more had lied to several training providers, asking for extensions based on bereavements and illness (different reasons for each provider) which had never been mentioned to us.
The investigation brought up further evidence of deception, as well as the discovery that they had done absolutely nothing that they were being paid to do. Clients had been ignored, staff had been actively discouraged from responding to them, no systems were in place to manage them. This led to additional stress as we had to manage the fallout and pick up the pieces of a project that had been neglected for several months.
This person is still in their probation period, so we were advised that we did not really need to collect all of the evidence of gross misconduct as we could just say that we were not satisfied with their performance. After the meeting was held and they were informed of the investigation, they wrote us a long email with accusations of bullying, harassment, discrimination, and demanding a long list of documents after supposedly speaking to a solicitor. Given the piling evidence of deception and incompetence, we decided to terminate their contract immediately (they were invited to a meeting to conclude the investigation but made excuses as to why they couldn't make it).
They have since submitted a Subject Access Request for all information we hold on them, including minutes of all our meetings, and all our WhatsApp conversations mentioning them. Given that we are a small group of volunteers - and yet, legally speaking, we are directors of this organisation - are we legally obliged to hand over our WhatsApp conversations and emails referencing this person? If so, this seems very unfair; we have reason to believe that this is a vindictive individual, who may personally go after those who have instigated the investigation - they have already mentioned their intention to take a civil case against the directors, which may mean to personally sue us as individuals.
They have also demanded to see statements from other staff - again, it is such a small company, we don't think our staff would feel safe knowing that what they had written would be seen by this person. Don't we have a duty to protect them by refusing to give this information?
Furthermore, we lack the financial resources to seek legal advice, and the situation has left us in a a very precarious position financially, where we don't know if we will even be able to continue to employ the other staff members as we are likely to be forced to pay back the funder for not having completed the project goals. It's so sad, given that we were all moved by wanting to help with resolving social situations in our local area and were putting in our energy voluntarily, and this person seems determined to ruin us personally and as an organisation.
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