Discrimination Claim Prevails

Former Scout exec wins lawsuit
Discrimination claim prevails

By Lee Hammel TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFFlhammel@telegram.com

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They treated me like a second-class citizen,

-- Kamal Aly, FORMER DISTRICT SCOUT EXECUTIVE
WORCESTER — A jury in U.S. District Court has found the Mohegan Council of the Boy Scouts of America discriminated against an employee born in Egypt who said he was forced out of the organization. The 8-member jury assessed punitive damages at $300,000 for Kamal Aly and $152,500 in lost pay. The civil suit alleging employment discrimination based on national origin was decided Thursday. Mr. Aly, whose wife sat beside him last week in a hijab covering her hair throughout the trial, said last night of the verdict, “I was really happy because that gave me the feeling that not all American people like discriminating against other citizens. “They treated me like a second-class citizen, which I didn‘t like especially in the Boy Scouts,” Mr. Aly, who lives in Vernon, Conn., said. “When we teach moral values I didn‘t expect we would have any problem like discrimination.” Asked whether the Mohegan Council will appeal, its lawyer, Andrew Neil Hartzell of Boston, said, “We believe the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. We are exploring all post-trial options.” Because the case is not over, he said he is limited in what he can say about it, but he said that the law limits punitive damages against an organization the size of Mohegan Council to $50,000. The case was heard before Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV. John T. Martin of the Framingham law firm Mann & Martin, which represents Mr. Aly, acknowledged the legal limit for punitive damages is under $300,000, but said there will be arguments in court on what the limit is in this case. Mr. Aly, an American citizen, was hired as district executive, an entry-level position, by the Mohegan Council in August 2001, and said he was forced out in 2005. At one point, he was camp director for Treasure Valley Scout Reservation in Rutland. He contends that for the first three years of his employment he was given good performance evaluations, but was not offered the same opportunities for training and promotion to senior district executive as non-Egyptian employees. Mr. Aly alleged that Scout Executive Jay Garee told him that Council Executive James Kennedy instructed executives at other councils not to hire him, and that District Chairman David Libbey and District Commissioner Don Bjorn did not want him there any longer. Mr. Aly resigned, but filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and then a federal civil rights suit. Mr. Martin said Mohegan Council asserted that Mr. Aly wound up with poor performance evaluations based on a drop in scout membership, and what it said was a failure to respond to emails from volunteers. Mr. Aly's lawyer said such drops in membership were not unusual and not factored into the evaluations of other employees; other contentions did not stand up under cross-examination. The jury arrived at its verdict even though Mr. Aly offered no evidence that the defendants exhibited anti-Muslim or anti-Egyptian sentiments. The plaintiffs proved discrimination by showing “that Mr. Aly was treated differently than his non-Muslim, non-Egyptian colleagues” and “we were able to show the jury that the claimed nondiscriminatory business reasons for treating him differently were false,” Mr. Martin said. The jury found in favor of Mr. Aly on his federal law claim of discrimination, but in favor of the Mohegan council on his state law claims. The difference, Mr. Martin said, under state law, the discrimination has to be the determining factor behind the adverse employment action. Under federal law, the discrimination need only be a contributing motivation behind the action to be illegal, Mr. Martin said. “The Mohegan Council is extremely disappointed in the jury's verdict in this case,” Charles Thompson, president of the Mohegan Council, said, “and respectfully disagrees that any personnel decisions were made on the basis of race or ethnicity. The Council highly values diversity in its staff and participants. Indeed, the diversity of our staff and participants enhances the strength of the Council and its program.” He added, “Many of scouting's programs are registered in faith based institutions including churches, mosques and synagogues. “We do feel the jury was swayed by some of the emotional content instead of by the facts,” he said. Even if the verdict stands, Mr. Thompson said he believes it would be paid by the Boy Scouts of America's insurance policy and not from Mohegan funds. “We have thousands of people who support scouting here in Central Massachusetts and we want to assure them whatever the eventual outcome this does not come from their contributions.” Mr. Aly, who was a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout in his native Egypt, said he still loves scouting and wishes he could rejoin the movement.

Draddy Leadership skills go to camp

From a comment post to TruScouting Blog on 7/6/11:

Ethan Draddy is not doing his job. just came from Camp Saffran and they have no water. Scouts and Scouters are not able to take showers or swim in the pool. This pool has been leaking for 2 years now, what is being done to fix the problem? NOTHING! We have scouters from other councils at camp, what kind of impression as a council are we making. A really bad one! I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't come back. The young adults running camp are doing their best, but constantly are fighting uphill to get the resources they need to run program! Where has all the money gone that has been raised. It certainly has not gone to doing repairs and upkeep to Camp Saffran!


We here at TruScouting have been hearing a number of unsatisfactory comments concerning Broad Creek Memorial Scout Reservation. A large number of youth staff members have been fired, the Camping Director (Reservation Manager) resigned in late June and the morale of campers and staff is reported as low.

As the attendance of in-council units and youth have been on a long decline for years BAC has stepped up efforts to bring out-of-council units to Broad Creek. These efforts have stabilized the attendance numbers. However, as Ethan Draddy has shown with his other efforts, there are no hard numbers available to measure his statements on social media that attendance has shown a marked increase.

There is money available from the Forest Legacy program funds secured by BAC in 2009. These funds have been used to repay close to 2 million dollars of existing debt that BAC had before Ethan Draddy. As any close examination of Ethan’s performance would show, he has only one clear accomplishment as Scout executive, using the seven years of work from volunteers and past professional Scouters to raise funds for camp he has instead used this money to repay debt and thus build his record on financial stewardship and management.

He has deferred maintenance, program supplies and meaningful improvements to Broad Creek until the camping endowment can be replenished from his internal borrowing. This also allows him a safety net to cover his over spending on FOS events, Ethan Annual Big Shows, increased management staff, $65,000 pay increase (and bonus) for himself (just for 2009) and a new auto lease for his driving pleasure.

The only good news we have to report is that Ethan will be looking to leave Baltimore by this time next year. Hold on, he is almost out of here!

Professional employees over 40 at BAC, 2009

A Scout is Kind.
A Scout knows there is strength in being gentle. He treats others as he wants to be treated. Without good reason, he does not harm or kill any living thing.





From January 2009

How many of these professional employees are still working for Ethan Draddy?

Of those still working for Ethan, how many have been demoted?







1. Excerpted from page 47-54, Boy Scout Handbook, 11th Edition,
(#33105), copyright 1998 by BSA, ISBN 0-8395-3105-2

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How to read the IRS 990 and understand Ethan's bonus plan

From the National Council, BSA website:

There are three primary elements included in an executive’s compensation, as reported on the BSA’s 990s, including annual compensation, deferred compensation and the retirement plan.

Deferred compensation:
Like many major youth-serving, not-for-profit-organizations, deferred compensation is used as an appropriate method for rewarding executives who achieve their performance goals. As a not-for- profit organization, the BSA’s volunteer executive compensation committee has chosen to utilize deferred compensation, in lieu of bonuses or stock options, that commonly would be offered in a for- profit company.

Under the BSA’s deferred compensation plan the organization contributes a percentage of an employee’s salary, which may be paid at a later date.

The BSA is a merit-based pay organization and each year the BSA’s executive compensation committee and national executive board set goals for its executives, evaluate their achievements and award deferred compensation accordingly. An executive’s goals might include a variety of objectives like making sure the organization is fiscally sound, ensuring a structure that provides the appropriate support to the BSA’s local councils, recruiting the right levels of volunteers who give leadership to the organization and providing overall management of the professional staff.

TruScouting Note:
Next time you see a board member ask them: Was Ethan Draddy's performance in 2009 really worth a full-time professional position? Because that is the amount of his pay increase (with bonus).

Tico Perez from Wayne Brock's WB tv site

Tico Perez
June 20th, 2011 at 2:25 pm
Wow – thanks for all the positive thoughts and comments! I’m just thrilled that I have the chance to be part of the National Key 3! As to Jack’s question about engaging more volunteers into projects and actions, the answer is simple. First, set clear expectations on the volunteers – let them know what is needed and when it needs to be done. Next, expect them to complete the projects and hold them accountable. I know that the unspoken rule of the movement is to “never let a volunteer fail” but at the same time, this movement is a partnership – and we need to support each other. Any volunteer who does not do what they said that they would do is not a great partner and should be gently reminded of their commitment and the importance of their actions on the movement. Finally, if you want a volunteer to really work hard for you, show them – through your actions – that you love this movement as much as we do – that you get the purpose of the movement, and that this is not just a job!

Y’all are extraordinary!!

Tico

Watch the show at:
http://wp.me/p1abWF-1x