November, 2004 - Nr. 11
KWS Lawsuit
by Herwig Wandschneider
Statements by Mr. John Spearn, Chair of the Board of
Directors of the K-W Symphony Orchestra Association Inc (KWSO) - published
in The Record on the 8th of September - resulted in a lawsuit
filed by Martin Fischer-Dieskau under the Libel and Slander Act on October
20, 2004. The lawsuit was filed against John Spearn personally (not
the same person as the well-known singer/songwriter John Spearn of Edmonton,
Alberta - the editor), but was
filed also against the KWSO, because the same statements are contained in an
article, dated September 6, 2004, which was published on the KWSO website.
The Article is still on the website as of October 29 – the time of this
writing. According to the claim of the lawsuit the KWSO has refused to
remove the article from the Website.
Two days after Spearn’s article appeared in The Record, the Vice-Chair of KWSO’s Board, Tony Martinek, informed The Record and the public (The Record Sep 10, 2004) that the article was Spearn’s alone and that …"I, along with a number of other directors, wish to most resolutely distance ourselves from Spearn’s reaction" (referring to Spearn’s published article).
This explains why Fischer-Dieskau singles out John Spearn and the KWSO in his lawsuit and does not include the Board of Directors. He also does not include the Orchestra, but refers only to the KWSO in connection with the publication of Mr. Spearn’s article on their website, which of course can be read worldwide.
New Citizen Group
Meanwhile, a new Citizen’s Group, called "The Association Members for Ethical Governance" (AMEG) has submitted a slate of nominees for the Board of Directors, for the November 16th Annual General Meeting of the KWSO. AMEG has prepared a comprehensive platform that addresses all that the Group feels is wrong with the current KWSO structure and administrative performance. The platform consists of 7 headline points, of which only one point (Point 3) deals with the Fischer-Dieskau issue.
AMEG consists of 40 committee members, supporters and Nominees, who are either Members of the current Board, of the orchestra and of the K-W Symphony. AMEG is in the process of setting up a website, which should be live by the time this issue goes to print. (http://home.golden.net/~sizma/kws). The website will outline the platform, list the nominees, members and supporters and provide such other information to assist voters.
Perhaps Symphony Voters will this time elect a Board which will bring this entire issue to successful closure, and generate new hope for continuance of excellence for the K-W Symphony.
