Termination of the member during an exclusion process.
April 18, 2011 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Dr. Dr. Danjel-Philippe Newerla
Dear Sir or Madam,
after the resignation of the former treasurer of an emergency relief association, the board has determined that the above-mentioned treasurer acted against the statutes and handled the funds of the association as they pleased. Our statutes require that each board member obtain the approval of the other board members for transactions over €100. At the general meeting, this treasurer was relieved of their duties by the members, while the board abstained. Now, two requests for the expulsion of this former treasurer have been submitted. With a unanimous decision of the board (as stipulated by the statutes), the former treasurer was informed of their expulsion by registered mail. The next day, she lodged an objection to the expulsion, claiming she had a right to be heard regarding the allegations (as also stipulated by the statutes). The chairwoman informed her in writing of the reasons for the expulsion and granted her an oral or written hearing date. The next day, the board received a brief statement from her claiming that the former chairwoman had approved everything (which the former chairwoman credibly denies) and even if true, according to the statutes, other board members would have had to approve as well. In any case, the former treasurer terminated her membership immediately in her final statement. A termination of membership by a member is not recorded in the statutes.
Now, my question is: Can this former treasurer actually terminate their membership immediately during the process of expulsion from the association?
Thank you in advance for your response and best regards.
Dear inquirer,
Thank you for your inquiry.
A member of the association (and therefore also the treasurer) can generally only terminate their membership properly in accordance with the notice period specified in the articles of association.
An extraordinary termination is always possible in principle, but this would require that, from the perspective of the terminating parties in terms of § 314 of the German Civil Code, there is a significant reason that makes it unreasonable for this person to continue, or until the end of the regular notice period, to maintain the contractual relationship.
In this case, it is rather the opposite. Based on your description, I cannot identify any breach of duty on your part, or on the part of the association or the board, which would justify an extraordinary termination of the treasurer without notice.
However, it is up to the association/board to accept this termination anyway, so that this person is excluded as soon as possible or is no longer active in the association.
I hope to have provided you with an initial legal orientation and wish you every success and all the best!
I would like to point out the following to you:
The legal advice I have provided is based solely on the information you have provided. My response is only a first legal assessment of the situation, which cannot replace a comprehensive examination of the facts. Adding or omitting relevant information can lead to a completely different legal assessment.
I hope that my explanations have helped you. You are welcome to contact me through the follow-up option.
Have a pleasant Monday afternoon!
Kind regards from the North Sea coast
Dipl.-Jur. Danjel-Philippe Newerla, Attorney
Stresemannstr. 46
27570 Bremerhaven
kanzlei.newerla@web.de
Fax.0471/140244
Tel. 0471/140240
