Opinion ID: 2360513
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: defendantsproper parties

Text: The defendants rely most heavily upon the bylaws of the Armory Committee to support their claim that they, as individuals, are not the members of the Committee, but that their respective units of the National Guard which they represent are the members. They point to three articles of these bylaws to substantiate their argument. Article II, in stating the object of the Committee, says that its purpose is: 1. To stimulate interest in the units that are stationed in the Armory. 2. To organize and control all fund raising activities. 3. To control the expenditures of funds for the benefit of members of the represented units. 4. To be of community service. Article III, in establishing the membership of the Committee, provides: Members of the Committee will consist of the following: all officers of Headquarters Det, 181st Sig Det, and 142nd Ord Co (DS) with an elected representative from each platoon of Hqs and 142nd Ord Co (DS), plus the AST1st Sgt, and Supply Sergeant of Hqs Det and 142nd Ord Co (DS). The representatives of the platoons to be elected in January each year to take office in February coinciding with the election of Committee Officers. Article IX, when referring to the distribution of net proceeds, ordains: When funds are available any unit may request a split for the units: the split will be made as follows: 69% to the 142nd Ord Co (DS): 29% to Headquarters Det and 2% to the 181st Signal Unit. We note initially that the membership clause does not structure the body of the Armory Committee in terms of the respective National Guard units which make use of the Armory, but rather establishes eligibility in named officers and elected representatives of the respective units. We further readily observe that the purpose underlying the formation of the Armory Committee was to create an independent group, which, although representative of the units for whose benefit the Committee was formed in the first place, would have sole control of all fund raising activities and expenditures in connection therewith. With these considerations in mind, we hold that the National Guard units were not intended to be the members of the Armory Committee. The bylaws clearly indicate that the membership of the Committee consists of the individual designated officers and representatives of the respective National Guard units who manifested their assent to become members of the Committee by participating in its organization, meetings and/or activities. The defendants further argue, however, that their participation in the activities of the Armory Committee was not a free choice on their part, but, as testified to by Mr. William Perry, a defendant and president of the Committee at the time the dance was held, the promotion of an enlisted man to the rank of an officer automatically imposed the duty on him to serve on the Committee. It is true that the bylaws do specify that the members of the Committee will consist of the designated officers of the respective National Guard units located at the Augusta Armory. Nevertheless, Mr. Perry knew of no duly promulgated regulation which either required him or any other person, as one of the designated officers under the Committee bylaw, to participate in the Armory Committee's activities or gave their commanding officer the power to order them to become members. [1] The mistaken belief that such was their duty would not destroy the voluntary aspect of the association of the members of the Armory Committee in the prosecution of the common purposes outlined in the bylaws. The defendants' acceptance of membership in the Armory Committee, by proof of participation in its organization, meetings and activities, is sufficiently supported by the evidence to sustain the finding below that the defendants were members of a voluntary association. See, Johnson v. South Blue Hill Cemetery Association, 1966, Me., 221 A.2d 280. Article IX of the bylaws which gives any of the units of the National Guard located at the Augusta Armory the right to request a distribution of the accumulated funds in the treasury, subject to the requirement under Article X that a balance of $500.00 be maintained at all times except when otherwise approved by the Armory Committee for an emergency, does not militate against the fact that the Armory Committee is a voluntary association within the meaning of the law, even though the ultimate beneficiaries of the activities of the Committee be the members of the National Guard units. The Armory Committee, as a voluntary unincorporated association and a non-equity at common law, in the absence of statutory authority, had no such legal existence as permitted it to acquire and hold property in its associate name. Johnson v. Blue Hill Cemetery Association, supra. The constitution and bylaws of a voluntary unincorporated association, provided, they are not unreasonable, nor contrary to public policy nor to constitutional or statutory requirements, constitute a valid enforceable contract between the members and the association and govern their mutual rights and liabilities. An individual in becoming a member implied agrees to be bound by, and becomes a party to, such contract, and his rights and duties are measured by the terms of such constitution and bylaws. Liggett v. Koivnen, 1948, 227 Minn. 114, 34 N.W.2d 345; Leeds v. Harrison, 1950, 7 N.J.Super. 558, 72 A.2d 371; Mackey v. Moss, 1965, 278 Ala. 55, 175 So.2d 749; 6 Am.Jur.2d, Associations and Clubs, § 8; Vol. 7 C.J.S. Associations, § 11. The Supreme Court Judicial Court of Massachusetts well expressed the applicable rule of law in Kelley v. Weiss, 1951, 328 Mass. 197, 102 N.E.2d 93: The rights and obligations of the members of the voluntary unincorporated association as to each other and as to the group comprising the association are fixed and established by the constitution and bylaws. They constitute the governing rules for the internal management of its affairs and for the conduct of its business. They are the basis upon which the members have joined to accomplish the aim and object of the association and are in effect in the nature of a contract binding those who have become members provided they are not inconsistent with some controlling principle of law. We hold that the members of the National Guard units located at the Augusta Armory were the third party beneficiaries of the contract of association resulting from the articles of organization, otherwise termed the bylaws, of the Armory Committee, by the terms of which the net proceeds of the activities of the members of the Committee were payable on request to the National Guard units or their members. It is obvious that the bylaws intended certain designated persons to constitute the membership of the Armory Committee, and not the National Guard units to which these persons may be attached. The fact that the rental agreement was made in the name of the Augusta Committee through Sergeant Donald H. Storr, a member of its Steering Committee, secured the authority to use the Armory for the dance, is of no meaningful relevance in our determination of the membership of the Committee under the articles of organization, when we consider that it is undisputed the Armory Committee sponsored the dance and paid the rental fee. Although the rental agreement designated the Augusta National Guard units as the authorized organization renting the Armory, the Armory Committee took possession under that agreement for the purpose of carrying out its planned activity of sponsoring this New Year's Eve dance in its efforts to promote, as provided in the bylaws, a stimulation of interest in the National Guard units stationed at the Augusta Armory and service to the community. Mr. Perry testified it was his opinion that on becoming an officer he automatically became a member of the Armory Committee. In the absence of any evidence that the official duties of an officer in the National Guard required participation in an association organized to conduct social activities, albeit for the benefit of the Guard, acceptance of membership in such association must be viewed as voluntary on the part of the accepting member, subjecting him to whatever liability the law applicable to voluntary unincorporated associations may impose.