[Ravensfort] Complaints....

[L T]

this is from the Bylaws and Corpora Jan 2002

APPENDIX A: SUGGESTED CHANNELS FOR COMPLAINT AND APPEAL
The Society is devoted to courtesy, trustworthiness and personal responsibility, and it sometimes
seems that these ideals should be enough to permit members to work smoothly together. After all,
virtually everyone agrees it is desirable to foster the Society’s goals of encouraging research
and recreation in its chosen periodand to promote the welfare and prosperity of the organization
and the education and enjoyment of everyone in it. Unfortunately, tensions and disputes develop
anyway.

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.

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 everyone can live with.

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.

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 you
way, do not go on to step

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 you 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.

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