DRUG & ALCOHOL TESTING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association 1325 G Street, NW, Suite 500#5001 Washington, DC 20005 Phone: 800-355-1257 Fax: 202-315-3579 Email: info@datia.org Web: datia.org November 14, 2017 Dear DATIA Member: As DATIA s founder, many of you have requested that I write with my view of the matters related to DATIA s membership vote, and I am pleased to do so. I support the vote of the membership to remove the current Board and am certain this is a necessary part of continuing DATIA s growth as an independent voice for the industry. I have been made aware of the very serious misconduct of individuals on the DATIA Board in the past six months, and procedures are such that only by reorganizing the entire Board can DATIA be brought back on its successful agenda for the industry. The conflict initiated by the faction of the Board has resulted in a time-consuming distraction from DATIA s mission. Like all of you, my company is an independent drug and alcohol testing consortium, and depends on the credible voice of DATIA. When I started DATIA other groups were controlled by factions of self-interest and even some cronyism. In contrast, DATIA s agenda is defined by the membership s stated priorities, and this Board faction is clearly acting to undermine the efforts I began with so many of you back in 1994, and it will be stopped by this membership vote, hopefully. The Memorandum that follows provides further details how the Board began voting with, and following the lead of, a person who has on the public record, serious background issues that should have disqualified him from joining any non-profit Board, had it been disclosed by him or his supporters on the Board any time prior. Already one long-time staff member has left DATIA due to the conflict initiated by the Board faction, and the current Executive Director, Laura Shelton, wrote you yesterday why she recommends the vote to reorganize the Board by removing its current members. Ms. Shelton, who has been with DATIA since 1997, has been wrongfully excluded from meetings beginning in May 2017, and a November 1 vote to halt her efforts to investigate serious fiduciary matters along with outside legal counsel was the final act to prove to me that the Board is controlled by interests not consistent with DATIA s mission or even the best interests of any member I know. Your continued support of DATIA can be best expressed by a vote in the affirmative to remove the current Board, in favor of returning focus on its mission. The Memorandum that follows
details the facts that have been uncovered in the course of the investigation of the matter, until that investigation was wrongfully halted on November 1, 2017 by members of the current Board of Directors. Sincerely, Jeffrey C. Smith DATIA Founder and Managing Director DATIA Sustaining Member since 1994 Owner, The Maritime Consortium, Inc. drugfreevessel.com
DRUG & ALCOHOL TESTING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association 1325 G Street, NW, Suite 500#5001 Washington, DC 20005 Phone: 800-355-1257 Fax: 202-315-3579 Email: info@datia.org Web: datia.org DETAILS OF CURRENT DATIA BOARD MISCONDUCT Here are the simple and unvarnished facts: JIM GREER AND HIS SPONSOR TO THE BOARD, JOE REILLY 1. Serious matters arose when former politician, and now drug testing company owner, Jim Greer applied to the Nominating Committee to become a DATIA Board member. He had been a member of DATIA for the required one year when he applied in January 2016, just a year and a half after he was released from Florida prison as described below, and while he was found in state corporate records to be in business with Joe Reilly (more on this below). 2. Mr. Greer recently served 18 months in state prison for fraud and embezzlement of a major political organization, the Republican Party of Florida, which he headed until he was indicted, convicted and incarcerated. Greer s public record 1 is extensive and involves media and press reports published largely in Florida, as well as Court legal documents from his sentencing, plea and imprisonment. OMISSION AND DECEPTION OF DATIA UNDERTAKEN BY GREER AND REILLY 3. Greer omitted from the Board application 2 the 6 years of prior employment during the time of the fraud and embezzlement of that employer, the Florida Republican Party. In no communication to any DATIA official, did Greer disclose the felony fraud and embezzlement conviction as part of the DATIA Nomination process. The only one knowing for certain of Greer s past was Joe Reilly, an officer of DATIA and Greer s longtime business associate who he had co-founded companies with for over 20 years, but without disclosing this fact despite his signed fiduciary statement requiring him to do just that. 4. This deception, undertaken first by Greer and Reilly, against disclosure rules, were successful in hiding facts of the criminal background from the nominating committee. Its initial vote to approve Mr. Greer (later overturned as discussed below) was made without any knowledge of Greer s criminal recent past. But the Nominating Committee relied, to their detriment (and the members too), on Mr. Greer s omission, in combination with the omission of serious facts of the felony conviction, known by two or more other DATIA Board members discussed below of facts related to Greer s Nomination. 1 The press and government prosecution trail of Jim Greer is quite vivid. I've posted the objective news reports on datia.org/greer, for those of you who may be unaware of it, (or the extent of it). 2 From Greer Board Application dated January 27, 2016.
ALLIANCE GROWS WITH PHIL DUBOIS AIDING GREER AND REILLY 5. The other party who was aware of Mr. Greer s past was Phil Dubois, who along with Reilly recommended Greer to the DATIA Nominating Committee Chair (Neil Fortner) by communications made by Joe Reilly and Phil DuBois, neither of whom disclosed Greer s felony conviction. No communications indicate that Mr. Fortner, or any other member of the Nominating Committee had knowledge of Greer s record prior to their initial vote. 6. Joe Reilly was found in the public records 3 to have been a long-time business partner with Mr. Greer dating back over 30 years, including founding the company that Joe Reilly owns now. In clear violation of the provisions of the Fiduciary Statement he signed, Mr. Reilly failed to disclose the fact of the business relationship at any time. The record unequivocally reflects the fact that were it not for Joe Reilly, Jim Greer would not be on the Board now. FACT FINDING OF GREER S CRIMINAL HISTORY PROVIDED TO DATIA COMMITTEE 7. Once Greer s name was made public to DATIA members via the DATIA 2016-2017 Board Ballot, members from Florida called Chairman Vogler and Executive Director Laura Shelton to report the fact of Mr. Greer s record of felony embezzlement and question his nomination. Ms. Shelton immediately made inquiry into the member allegations that Mr. Greer had a conviction for fraud and embezzlement, and on March 10, 2016 informed the Nominating Committee Chair of the facts by providing court documents. 8. The Nominating Committee voted unanimously on March 11, 2016 to withdraw Mr. Greer s name from Nomination to the DATIA Board of Directors, and wrote, Executive Director Laura Shelton of the vote, and Ms. Shelton in turn notified Chairman Phil Dubois of this fact via phone. WRONGFUL INTERFERENCE TO OVERRIDE COMMITTEE AND INSIST ON GREER NOMINATION IN COOPERATION WITH REILLY 9. Chairman Phil Dubois, while not on the nominating committee, requested Mr. Greer s inclusion on the slate regardless of the unanimous vote of the Nominating Committee to remove him. Joe Reilly, his undisclosed business partner, was also active in attempting to keep Mr. Greer on the slate. Mr. Dubois made a number of phone calls, including to Ms. Shelton, stating that Mr. Greer was litigious and that if DATIA went through with following the Nominating Committee s vote, that DATIA should have all its ducks in a row. Ms. Shelton contemporaneously reported this legal threat passed along, or made directly, by Mr. Dubois. Neither, Greer business partner Joe Reilly, or associate Phil DuBois who was a speaker at Greer s company functions, and 3 State of Florida office of Corporations, document # P13000009793
who called the nomination committee urging Greer s nomination make the committee aware of it, even though both said they were well aware of the serious felony. 4 10. Mr. Dubois effort to interfere, override, and even, as recorded, threaten DATIA over the Nominating Committee's decision was highly inappropriate and potentially illegal. It allowed Joe Reilly s wrongful, conflicted and undisclosed relationship with Mr. Greer to be successful. Mr. Greer s name was not withdrawn from the ballot. The cooperation to place Mr. Greer on the Board made by Mr. Dubois and Mr. Reilly including their failure to disclose material facts is the single most troubling act against the interests of the membership since I founded this association in 1994. I have been advised it may also constitute illegal act(s), and I will support and encourage all efforts for this matter to be reviewed in all legal means including cooperating and inviting review by federal and state authorities if they are on the DATIA Board in any capacity. EFFORTS TO ENSURE DATIA OFFICER POSITIONS HELD BY NON-FELONS PASSED BUT RETALIATION AGAINST THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RESULTS 11. Following the wrongful nomination process, the DATIA Executive Committee sought to enact policies and controls to ensure proper vetting of candidates in future elections, and to protect the DATIA treasury from being accessed by anyone with a felony. (Greer s felony was for fraud and embezzlement). It may seem common sense to have those in the bylaws, but virtually no associations have such limitations given usually those candidates are filtered in the nominating process. As written by the Executive Director, the Executive Committee adopted procedures: DATIA s Executive Committee finds that the following must be adhered to with respect to the Board Member and Board Leadership Election process: No Board applicant (excluding Board members currently serving as of 2/9/2017 who apply for re-election for a consecutive term when their term expires) shall be eligible for nomination to serve on the DATIA Board of Directors if he/she has been convicted of a felony crime within the last seven years, DATIA Board Member Applications will include areas for new applicants to indicate that they do not have a felony conviction within the last seven years, Background checks will be conducted by DATIA on those nominated by the Nominating Committee to serve on the DATIA Board of Directors (to include/report only felonies within the last seven years) and will be shared with the Nominating Committee prior to the slate being finalized and sent to the DATIA members for a vote, No DATIA member who has been convicted of a felony within the last seven years shall be eligible to run for a DATIA leadership position including officer positions (Chairman, Chairman-Elect, Treasurer, Secretary) or committee chairperson, Any DATIA Board member who is convicted of a felony while serving as a DATIA Board member must immediately resign from the Board upon said conviction, This policy is effective 2/9/2017. 4 Mr. Dubois, who also lives in Florida where Greer was indicted and served time in State prison, admitted as a part of the investigation just two months ago, that he was at all times well aware of Greer s felonies due to the news media coverage of the very public indictment over years, and he wanted to give him a second chance. He did not have an answer when asked what Greer had done to earn a second chance. Dubois did not have an answer to the question of why he did not let members or even Board members, make the decision on whether Greer should get that second chance by disclosing the facts, instead of voiding the nominating committee s vote.
Mr. Dubois made it clear that policies needed to be worded so as to not automatically disqualify Mr. Greer. 11. Greer and Reilly attacked back in May 2017 at the Executive Director, and introduced and had passed some Motions for which the Minutes have not been released, but singled out the Executive Director for retaliation by proposing that the contract she operates under be terminated when it expires in four years. ELECTION VIOLATIONS EXTEND TO MCGUIRE AND SCHOFIELD, THEY JOIN WITH GREER TO GROW THE BOARD FACTION TO FIVE, AND EXERCISE CONTROL 12. Out of nowhere, Mr. Greer in April 2016 nominated Jo McGuire as the next Chairman (Chairman-elect) to serve in 2018, and the surprise nomination passed the Board. Ms. McGuire who is a public speaker of a tiny company dealing with narrow marijuana matters, does not provide any drug and alcohol testing services, and is clearly not in the industry that our members represent. 5 As before with Greer none of this was disclosed to the Board, but the Board voted. With Greer s constant public support, she has continued to push DATIA on efforts despite the membership vote that state legalization efforts were not a priority item. Ms. McGuire won over long time active Board member candidates, by just one vote. 13. This one vote matter is now in question due to the fact that during the course of this overall investigation, new information on additional improprieties during the 2016 elections also came to light concerning officer elections that took place on April 25, 2016. During the April 25, 2016 meeting a vote for Chairman-Elect was decided by one vote. It has since been learned via a company press release issued on October 25, 2015 that Board Member and officer candidate Jo McGuire was actually an employee of fellow Board Member Renee Schofield. The fact that the vote was so close, and fiduciary responsibility and conflict of interest mandates were not followed requiring that Renee Schofield disclose this conflict and recuse herself from the vote calls the vote result into question. http://www.tss-safety.com/mcguire-team/ 14. The fact of having two members from the same company on the Board (Schofield and McGuire) violates DATIA s bylaws that allow each member only one vote and as such only one seat on the DATIA Board of Directors. But more importantly, their violation of that rule means the Chair-elect position, decided by only one vote, must be considered void based on the new information that came forth in this investigation. GREER CALLED ON VIOLATIONS USE OF DATIA LOGO FOR PERSONAL GAIN AND RETALIATES AGAINST EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SHELTON TWO DAYS LATER 15. In her position as Executive Director, Laura Shelton has a fiduciary responsibility to uphold DATIA policies and program standards. Ms. Shelton and the management team have had to notify Mr. Greer of infractions against the use of DATIA logos multiple times (3+) for promoting his non-member companies as DATIA members and nonaccredited companies as accredited through the use of logos and wording. The last instance was on May 12, 2017, just days prior to the May 15, 2017 Board meeting in 5 Colorado State filing for company 5 Minutes of Courage # 20141659107
which Ms. Shelton offered to speak personally with Mr. Greer on the policy to avoid future infractions. Instead Mr. Greer responded aggressively with a reference to a law firm in Florida. The person copied on the email was later found to be a fabrication by DATIA s legal counsel. In addition, Ms. Shelton had previously instructed staff not to waive standards requirements that are applicable to all DATIA collector certification program participants since the standards apply to all, were set by the committee, and Board members are not exempt from meeting the same minimum standards. 16. The result was an unprecedented retaliatory strike against Laura Shelton and her staff at the annual meeting led by Mr. Greer and Jo McGuire, during which DATIA experienced managers were asked to leave the room while a raucous debate ensued inside, led by Mr. Greer and Jo McGuire without any opportunity for Ms. Shelton to defend herself with facts. Within a month, long time staff person Kristina Queen left DATIA due to the nasty confrontations with Greer and Reilly, who she battled with as the program director for the certification program. Kristina had been with DATIA for ten years. 17. Ms. Shelton was urged to stay only when DATIA s founder Jeffrey C. Smith promised he would take whatever legal action was necessary to halt the rogue attacks by clearly unqualified Board members, not acting in DATIA s best interests. Meanwhile the verbal attacks on Ms. Shelton have continued from Mr. Greer, Ms. McGuire, and more recently been made against the Chairperson Sherri Vogler when she urged rational consideration. Board members, including the Chairperson, have reached out to Laura and I to express the fact that Greer s actions and tactics of bullying 6 must stop, and as described in item #20 below, an Attorney was retained to begin the process of addressing violations. FAILURE BY THE BOARD AS A WHOLE TO ADDRESS CRUCIAL ASSOCIATION MATTERS 18. Not a single Board Member is known to have, either in publicly or at a Board meeting, spoken up on these prior matters, though most or all of them now know about the prior history of Greer. With the exception of Executive Director Laura Shelton, who at all times addressed them directly, but has been banned from all discussions of these matters, by being told to leave the room at Board meetings. Ms. Shelton was completely excluded from all three Executive Committee Meetings (which she is a member of) since May 2017, and no Minutes or resolutions or votes have been provided to the DATIA headquarters. FEAR OF RETALIATION NOW THE RULE 19. For those Board Members who were found to be aware of the Greer and Reilly led faction and their improprieties that were spoken to during the course of this investigation, the reason given by Board members who I knew to be aware of the facts 6 Verbal bullying of staff mirrors the aggressive and persuasive behavior described in the referenced articles by his colleagues at the Florida Republican Party, during the time he was running operations later determined (as shown in the public record) to involve fraud and embezzlement.
for not speaking out were, some due to concern about retaliation against them, others due to the fact that information has been withheld from them by the faction of five members. No association, can be governed by a Board which fails to have a majority willing to act in the best interests of DATIA if it is to continue its twenty- three years of successfully serving the industry. 7 8 FINAL FAILURE BY THE BOARD: ATTEMPTING TO STOP INVESTIGATION 20. Faced with the extensive Board non-compliance, conflicts of interest, authority being exercised by a person convicted for a felony, as described above, in July 2017, Ms. Shelton retained, with the Chairperson and Founder s concurrence, an independent attorney to investigate and provide legal analysis on the above matters. He had no prior relationship with any party, and only Ms. Shelton and the Chairperson spoke to him or provided him documents. 21. On September 27, 2017 the attorney, Jim Wilson, prepared a memo detailing the fiduciary lapses consistent with the above facts, and which he found specific fault for actions by those Board members without naming them. Ms. Shelton distributed the Attorney Wilson s memo to the Board along with a recommendation that the Board be subject to election by the membership due to this serious crisis of impropriety. 22. The final straw was on November 1, 2017 when the majority of the Board, almost half of whom were the subject of legal review of their actions, voted to prohibit Ms. Shelton from contacting Attorney Wilson, or Wilson to contact her, on any matter. This completely halted the investigation. The conflicts of those being investigated halting an investigation is systematic of how the Board s majority is now controlled by the Greer Faction. The membership vote to remove the Board went out November 13, 2017. Sincerely, Jeffrey C. Smith 7 In 1994, I founded DATIA for the purposes of fully serving the industry both small and larger companies alike; the principal challenge I saw then was to avoid the insider club type factions, domination by large service providers, and lack of clarity of industry mission that I witnessed at a SAPAA meeting the prior year. I had been a C/TPA owner for six years at that point of founding DATIA in 1994, and have remained a sponsoring member of DATIA for the past 20 plus years, and serve as DATIA s Managing Director under its Constitution. 8 Industry factions had previously formed a club of large TPAs at the SAPAA meeting while small TPAs such as mine and our current members, had no role. I was amazed that a major alcohol company was sponsoring SAPAA s opening reception. Founding DATIA was the solution, and now serves 1500 members and has a conference of 700 companies, in contrast to other groups with a fraction of our membership.