Arbitrator to rule on LCHS membership
The lawsuit against the Le Sueur County Historical Society took a small step Monday when a judge approved binding arbitration to determine an official membership list.
Mark Vandelist, District Court Judge of Minnesota's First Judicial District, gave both sides of the lawsuit 90 days to enlist in the help of an arbitrator who will simply resolve the question of who are members of the historical society, a nonprofit organization.
Attorneys for the society and a group suing for access to financial and governance documents, and a fair election, appeared before Vandelist on Monday. After discussing with their clients for more than an hour, they said in court, they would like to enlist in an arbitrator to iron out the membership list.
The society’s attorney Raymond Konz with Gray, Plant and Mooty, Minneapolis, said, given the nature of the society’s finances, he allowed arbitration as a way to avoid costly court appearances.
“Once the membership issues are resolved, the rest will be resolved too,” Konz told the judge. He added that confidentiality requirements under state nonprofit law are one of the other needs for arbitration.
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