Legality of a decision

The PA Volunteer Fire company again.

Our bylaws state the Executive board shall have the power to determine the rules surrounding the required monthly activities each member must attend. (The number of activities and which ones are eligible to be counted towards this number.) We use these requirements to determine a members status (active or inactive). The past executive boards have always gone against giving help to a member in need (death in family, sickness, has to work extra hours, took on a second job) and usually ends up removing the member from the rolls of the company due to lack of activities. They said only a one size fits all rule must apply or it's discrimination. The majority of the current executive board (approx 7 versus 5) feel we should take each request for assistance (assigning other tasks or waiving a requirement for a period of time) on a case by case basis. However, keeping in mind that a person may try to abuse this and we must track it carefully. This has started a big uproar in the company and members who have been denied assitance in the past are now threatening to sue us, due to discrimination. I feel there is no way a "one size fits all rule" can apply to any business. any comments?

There is a very real danger of a discrimination suit if you give help to some members and not to others under similar circumstances. If you give help to anyone, then refuse help to a member of a protected minority, it will be very difficult to prove the difference in treatment was not due to discrimination. If you do decide to help some and not others, be sure to have a very definite standard of decision that you apply to everyone. Even then, if for some reason your standard results in some protected minority being treated unfavorably, you could be subject to suit.

The safe thing is “one size fits all.”