George Hopkins Charged with two Counts Sexual Assault

[garfield]

2 hours ago, E3D said:

Reading the same thing and it seems he could win this lawsuit. 

My thoughts are about how will this effect the finances of the Cadets. The lawsuit = money to defend. Could eventually = money to settle or money lost in a judgement. 

 

 

Insurance is their friend (if their leader and board were smart enough to pay for it).

[garfield]

37 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:

That would be a strange sensation for victims who worked for YEA. Suing GH and getting money that he got from YEA.

And one has to wonder if many would bring a suit for financial settlement if they knew it would ding the corps.

 

[JimF-LowBari]

11 minutes ago, garfield said:

And one has to wonder if many would bring a suit for financial settlement if they knew it would ding the corps.

 

Well if they sue GH it’s just taking money that GH already had gotten from YEA (presuming he sued YEA and won). So just an extra hop for the money. 

Hmmm sue YEA organization, Cadets organization, individuals on BoD who knew and ignored... yep could be a real Mel of a Hess..

Edited November 14, 2018 by JimF-LowBari

[dooser11]

YEA! is likely in a tough spot, can't comment on the lawsuit to its donors who are likely nervous their next donation is reimbursing Hopkin's credit card

[Tim K]

1 hour ago, dooser11 said:

YEA! is likely in a tough spot, can't comment on the lawsuit to its donors who are likely nervous their next donation is reimbursing Hopkin's credit card

Not necessarily. Now that there are criminal charges against him, there could be all kinds of ramifications for GH, pending the verdict. Since one complaint is clearly sexual misconduct in the workplace, and the other though not an employee, it occurred in a business setting, they are basic violations of standard ethics clauses in most contracts. There are cases where former employees have had to pay back golden parachutes and have lost pensions when sexual harassment claims have been proven true. To fight it, he would have to prove his innocence in civil court, a different standard than beyond a reasonable doubt in criminal court. 

Regarding YEA speaking, the practice is you do not speak, and they should take the high road which is keeping quiet, which also distances them from GH and the former board, but in the current climate, it would not be deadly for YEA to speak or grounds for a lawsuit by GH unless the two women made bogus claims which is highly unlikely. 

Regarding donors, this is why you earmark donations. As someone in the non-profit world, I prefer general donations because earmarked donations require paperwork and I have to be able to prove a donation was used according to the donors wishes. However, I always appreciate the donation and I am sure YEA would too.

Now as I write all of this, is George Hopkins suing YEA? Is YEA suing him? Has YEA been silent with donors? 

Edited November 14, 2018 by Tim K

[garfield]

30 minutes ago, Tim K said:

Not necessarily. Now that there are criminal charges against him, there could be all kinds of ramifications for GH, pending the verdict. Since one complaint is clearly sexual misconduct in the workplace, and the other though not an employee, it occurred in a business setting, they are basic violations of standard ethics clauses in most contracts. There are cases where former employees have had to pay back golden parachutes and have lost pensions when sexual harassment claims have been proven true. To fight it, he would have to prove his innocence in civil court, a different standard than beyond a reasonable doubt in criminal court. 

Regarding YEA speaking, the practice is you do not speak, and they should take the high road which is keeping quiet, which also distances them from GH and the former board, but in the current climate, it would not be deadly for YEA to speak or grounds for a lawsuit by GH unless the two women made bogus claims which is highly unlikely. 

Regarding donors, this is why you earmark donations. As someone in the non-profit world, I prefer general donations because earmarked donations require paperwork and I have to be able to prove a donation was used according to the donors wishes. However, I always appreciate the donation and I am sure YEA would too.

Now as I write all of this, is George Hopkins suing YEA? Is YEA suing him? Has YEA been silent with donors? 

I have to chuckle.  Lots of "lawyering" going on, although I know you and that you're not intentionally practicing law.  I'm chuckling at the very intriguing question: Was YEA fully upfront with its donors?  Hmm... when was the suit brought by GH?  Were donors already "on the books" by the time this hit?  And really, with the rally of support that came once the initial group of, what, "patriots", who launched the first salvo against Hop, would it have made a difference if they had been up front and said "Look, our lawyers tell us that he could ding us for 600-grand" - would any of them backed away?  Looking at a $6mm in revenue "company", is a $600m potential "ding" worth saying "No, I'm out"?  Nope, I don't think so.  If I know the group who brought the first salvo, they were in it come heck or high water until the end, potential Ding or not.

IMO

 

[waliman4444]

On 11/13/2018 at 6:42 PM, Liahona said:

This is not my area of expertise, but why the heck would YEA BoD ever agree to such a huge severance package in the first place?

MDMA

[camel lips]

On 11/14/2018 at 3:40 PM, dooser11 said:

YEA! is likely in a tough spot, can't comment on the lawsuit to its donors who are likely nervous their next donation is reimbursing Hopkin's credit card

There is no doubt that YEA is going to have to fork out tons of money on account of GH. And that money?? Where is it going to come from??? You guessed it... Donors. So yeah,,, its a concern allright. You can't exactly donate the money and say how they are going to spend it. 

[soccerguy315]

10 minutes ago, camel lips said:

There is no doubt that YEA is going to have to fork out tons of money on account of GH. And that money?? Where is it going to come from??? You guessed it... Donors. So yeah,,, its a concern allright. You can't exactly donate the money and say how they are going to spend it. 

colleges do this all the time

(the "how the money is spent" part, I mean...)

and I know at least some drum corps have specific funds you can donate to for specific things

[garfield]

27 minutes ago, camel lips said:

There is no doubt that YEA is going to have to fork out tons of money on account of GH. And that money?? Where is it going to come from??? You guessed it... Donors. So yeah,,, its a concern allright. You can't exactly donate the money and say how they are going to spend it. 

I'm sure there's a way to make directed donations that are, in fact, restricted (fuel fund, scholarships, etc).  The question is whether these assets (donations) are attachable as an asset to pay any settlement.  Some assets are not current assets or attachable.  Further, most likely, and upon checking in with some insurance folks I know, it's not likely that any form of insurance will cover a payout to settle Hop's case.  Insurance doesn't cover stupidity, and the prior Board may have only been stupid to accept the resignation knowing (or not knowing) that it would put a huge financial strain on the corps (which would be the basis for my fiduciary claim).

EDIT: I'm no attorney, but I'd make the case that "directed" assets are not assets usable by the organization to run its business, in other words for making obligations and settling debts; "scholarship" dollars are only usable for those, for example.  Unrestricted current assets (and future assets, i.e. donations) are surely available for the org to use in the "running of its business" and are, surely, "attachable" to settle debts.  Maybe it's a good thing I'm not an attorney.

EDIT 2: As another example, these allocations took place when there was no USBands, only Cadets.  Could assets and cash flow from USB or other YEA programs be attachable to settle claims that occured in the drum corps?

Edited November 15, 2018 by garfield