On Tuesday Dec 27th, Rob Curry, former executive director for the Atheists of Florida received a letter on Atheists of Florida letterhead informing him that he had been expelled from the organization and that he has 90 days to appeal his expulsion. However, Rob does not think the correspondence is official since he doesn’t believe the person sending it has any authority.
The problem started at the beginning of November, when the Atheists of Florida board expelled the president and vice president from the organization. Those individuals, John Kieffer and Ellenbeth Wachs don’t believe that their expulsions were valid for a variety of reasons. Long story short, there are now two groups claiming to be “the official” Atheists of Florida and both groups warn members that the other group is a fraud. Rob Curry has sided with Ellenbeth and John and so, apparently, the other board has expelled him.
The matter of which group is legally in charge of the Atheists of Florida is currently pending a judge’s ruling. Ellenbeth Wachs has sued members of the other board for defamation and the other board has filed a request for injunction to prevent Ellenbeth and John from claiming to be representatives of the Atheists of Florida. The court refused to allow a temporary injunction, but the case will be heard by a judge, who will be asked to determine which group claiming to “officially” represent the Atheists of Florida is valid.
Which group is ultimately judged to be “officially” acting on behalf of the Atheists of Florida will determine whether or not Rob Curry’s expulsion is valid or not.
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