From: "krsanna" <timestar@timestar.org>
Reply-To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Theos-World Update on Tacoma Lodge lawsuit
Date: Thu, 09 Mar 2006 01:57:29 -0000
Carlos asked about updates on this lawsuit, and I thought others
might be interested as well. The TSA (Wheaton) filed a lawsuit on
behalf of its members in Tacoma, WA against the officers of the
Tacoma TS Lodge on October 31, 2005.
The officers of the Tacoma Lodge answered the complaint in January,
denied charges filed against the officers, and requested that TSA
pay court and legal costs for defense of the case. TSA's complaint
hinges on whether the TSA has the legal right to appoint members to
the Lodge, contrary to the Lodge's 1941 bylaws that require Tacoma's
membership committee approve all new members.
When the TSA added individuals to the Lodge's roster without a vote
as required by the bylaws, the Lodge separated from a legal
relationship with the TSA in September 2005, with a vote of the
majority of the Lodge members. It is true that the TSA-appointed
individuals were not included in the vote, because they were not
members of the Lodge.
Several charges were made against the officers with a demand that
ownership of the Lodge be turned over to individual's TSA appointed
and for a full financial accounting. Since the individuals who had
initially requested an accounting were those that TSA had added to
the Lodge's roster without approval of the membership committee, the
Tacoma officers contend they are not required to provide any
accounting to individuals who are not members of the Lodge.
Financial accounting has been properly made to legal members of the
Lodge.
Written records of the Lodge show that claims made in the Complaint
are false. Betty Bland had asked John Scott on several occasions to
change the Lodge's bylaws to conform with those of the TSA. The
Lodge had decided to not change its bylaws several times since 1941
in order to preserve the autonomy it had protected since its
inception in 1890 and later when it was associated with several
Theosophical organizations.
The Tacoma (Narada) Theosophical Lodge was first chartered in 1890,
with signatures by Olcott, Blavatsky and Judge, then chartered again
in 1895 by W. Q. Judge. The Lodge's officers were subsequently
chartered with Pasadena and still later with the American Section.
No charter was ever made with the TSA when it was established in
1934; instead it was sort of grandfathered in from the American
Section charter. The Tacoma Lodge was never specifically chartered
with the TSA.
John Scott has personally assumed the burden of legal defense
against charges made by the TSA and its members by selling property
that he owns. He feels that defending against the intrusive
authority the TSA has assumed is both a moral and an ethical
responsibility.
Krsanna Duran
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