BOARD CONFIDENTIAL Dick I have no issue keeping the board informed regarding HR matters. As a matter of course, any detailed questions are discussed in A&F or one-on-one. There was no notification to the board because we were working with Steve to keep him on as a contractor. He chose to design a contractor relationship that in essence would have created more of a 12 month severance agreement than delivering urgently needed open projects to completion. He believed he had us over a barrel and was going to take advantage of the situation by being a bully. He didn’t, and it didn’t work. His unprofessional and retaliatory email was childish and was an attempt to create discord where there is none. I am happy to go into detail, in A&F, in a committee of the whole session. You and I both know, first hand, that there are informational leaks on this board. It is an unprofessional and irresponsible practice. My assertion that Steve Berry sent that email in response to someone reaching out to him stands. It is incredulous to me that I need to be saying this: directors have no right to reach out to employees or ex-employees on matters related to HR unless empowered to by A&F or a majority of the board. HR matters are delicate and can lead to litigation if handled improperly. The casual and cavalier way one or more board members have engaged with employees on HR matters in past is irresponsible. If you take issue with this concept, we can have our HR attorney from Murtha take you through it. David From: arrl-odv <arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org> On Behalf Of Richard Norton via arrl-odv Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2023 4:18 PM To: arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org <arrl-odv@arrl.org> Subject: [arrl-odv:35306] Steve Berry's Message to ARRL Board Members This is a response to Mr. Minster's message claiming someone associated with the Board contacted Steve Berry in response to an earlier message from Mr. Minster to the Board. While I don’t know whether anyone from the Board did anything with Mr. Minster's original message (I did not), the following should be noted. On Sunday, September 24, I was made aware of the fact that Steve Berry had left the League's employ several weeks earlier. The information did not come from ODV. I was astounded that the departure of Mr. Minster's very valuable hire had left, and that weeks had passed without the Board being notified. Mr. Berry had one of the most important roles in the organization and, per the organization chart, was a direct report to Mr. Minster. I forwarded this news to a few other Directors. Quite curiously, on the following day, Mr. Minster finally informed the Board about Mr. Berry’s departure. I attempted to contact Mr. Berry based on outside information, not on Mr. Minster's message. Mr. Berry never answered any of my phone calls, nor did he reply to my phone messages. On Thursday, September 28, we all received Mr. Berry's message. The contents of his message adequately addressed the issues I wanted to cover, so I have made no further attempts to contact him. In my opinion, Mr. Minster's assertion that there was "a confidentiality issue that the board needs to address" is merely an attempt to deflect attention from the important issues. The real discussion should be about 1) his failure to keep the Board informed on key personnel issues, And 2) the uncharacteristically high employee turnover of ARRL staff since Mr. Minster’s arrival. At least 44 employees (update - now, at least 45) have left the League since Mr. Minster became CEO three years ago. Many are people he himself hired, and many were direct reports with management positions. Around four of his secretary/administrative assistants have left (Update - number five has left.) Every single one has departed. Something like eight other direct reports are gone. Responsible Board oversight demands that we understand the root cause of such unusual turnover. Is it our hiring practices, our management practices, the work environment or some combination of these? Although I probably had nothing to do with you all receiving the Berry message, (maybe multiple phone-answering-machine messages from me did give him the idea that some Board members were interested in his departure) I consider it fortuitous that a former employee with the respect Mr. Berry had earned outside the League made the effort to speak up. Mr. Berry's comments give the Board solid evidence of what needs to be addressed. Dick, N6AA