This message dated 05/10/2011 is forwarded to the Committee and membership of the Australian Scrabble Players Association (Vic) Inc.
The Committee of the said Association, of which I am a financial member, is in breach of the Associations Incorporation Act 1981.
Unless within 28 days from the date herein I receive an unconditional and unequivocal written apology from the said Committee, I would file a complaint with the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court that would refer to the following:
1. the lack of adequate grievance procedures in the Association’s constitution as stipulated by Section 14B of the said Act;
2. oppressive conduct as per Section 14C;
3. a court order that the Committee issues a formal apology in relation to cheating allegations, to be made public to members attending the next AGM;
4. the Association to pay adequate compensation;
5. the Association to pay legal cost.
While the legal path is in my favour, it is much more important to me to demonstrate to the membership that the moral aspect would have changed the outcome of the gracious motion moved by Harry Malcolm on behalf of Tess Robinson at the 2011 AGM. A logically correct outcome of the motion would have put this matter to rest. However, the pre-calculated insult of a secret ballot had lead to an illegal precedent, due to the fact that members were hoodwinked by the Committee via embellished trivia and hearsay misinformation.
The history of the Committee’s bungling from one error to another is shown below, for the benefit of only the principled members who would like to know the bare facts.
My accusations of the Vic Committee as to repetitive bungling would be understood if related in a documented manner. The sequence of events is very important, because it did pull the leg of the Committee into making errors that had to be covered by more errors.
The beginning was an email from Carol Johnsen:
To Mohammed Hegazi
c. c.
Stephanie Saunders
Norma Fisher
Marj Miller
Ruth fewings
Dear Mohammed,
I am writing to you, firstly in my capacity as the Mornington Tournament Director, and secondly, as a member of the Victorian committee.
At the Mornington tournament, it was of concern to me that I was called over to a game where you had facetiously declared a score of 200 for a play which clearly did not total that amount. I consider that this ploy was done in an insolent and ill-mannered manner by you to upset your opponent, which it certainly did. I have now observed from your blog that you had deliberately intended to enact this deceptive and time-wasting ploy which is even more distressing to me and, as it was, to your opponent.
I am writing to you now because, at our regular Victorian committee meeting held late last week, it came to my notice that there had already been a warning issued to you by the Tournament Director Barry Harridge with regard to your inappropriate behaviour towards an opponent at the recent Victorian Championships.
Following that also, at the Gwen Chadwick Memorial tournament last Sunday, you managed to upset one of our longest-playing and highly-respected players; which not only distressed her but those who witnessed it happening.
The above is why I now believe it prudent to send this email to the committee and give notice that I will be moving a motion that the committee take out disciplinary action against you for what appears to be your continuing unacceptable behaviour.
Whilst you have general concerns with the rules of the game, which you can address in writing to Trevor Halsall, the Victorian representative on the Rules Committee, you appear to constantly upset innocent opponents at tournaments with unacceptable comments and, as in the case at the Mornington Tournament, ill-mannered tactics.
Your faithfully,
Carol Johnsen
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As you would have noticed, Carol Johnsen made the following mistakes:
- She used rude language. She could have related what, in her opinion, constituted ill manners without expressing such ill-conceived subjective feelings.
- She circulated such sensitive defaming document among other members of the Association, namely RF and SS.
- She issued what would constitute a reprimand, even though she expressed her intention to pass the matter on to the Committee for further action. Her act was unconstitutional. Disciplinary action, if any, must be taken by the Committee after adequate investigation.
In view of the above, I sent an email to Marj Miller, the then elected president of the Association, requesting an enquiry and proper application of disciplinary procedures, should the need arise.
Because my email to MM exposed the action of CJ, it simply disappeared from the documentation and did not rate a mention in the enquiry that followed. MM made it look as if disciplinary procedures were invoked solely by her and not at my own behest. Instead, she indulged in running around in haste, requesting complaints against me from fellow players. Most would have refused to take part in this ploy. She managed to compile a dossier of trivia, plus a couple of unlucky incidents that were worthy of further investigation, and were properly addressed by me in the enquiry that followed. Had those two incidents been discussed with me in a reasonable friendly manner at an early stage, that would have been the end of the matter.
Contrary to Trevor Halsall’s waffle from the memory, the documented 10 accusations forwarded to me and later discussed in the inquiry, together with two extra pieces of similar nonsense, do not include any real incidents of cheating. Here is an exact copy of them, with all typos and poor punctuation if any, as forwarded to me by registered mail:
1) Date of Incident: July 13 2005
REPORT OF ACCUSATION OF CHEATING at the N4 Tournament.
During a break between games at the above tournament Mohammed Hegazi mentioned to me that he was concerned about cheating by fellow scrabble players.
We moved to a quiet area to discuss this, at which stage I asked Mohammed to tell me the names of the people who were cheating, mentioning that in my capacity as President of the Scrabble Players Association I would be unable to do anything about dealing with this situation without knowing the names of the offenders.
Mohammed was at first reluctant to mention any names, but when pressed again said “well, you for a start”.
I was distressed by this totally untrue accusation and let the members of the Association know that I had been accused of cheating, and I am grateful for the enormous amount of support I have received over the ensuing period of time.
Marj Miller
President
Scrabble Players Assocation
________________________________________________
2) Date of Incident: March 22 2008
Account of what happened at the Nationals with Mohammed Hegazi
On the 22nd March 2008 at the National Championships I was drawn to play Mohammed Hegazi in the second game of the Plate Section.
We arrived at the table to commence play and Mohammed started by telling me how to hold the bag and how to draw my tiles, I assured him I knew how to do this, we started to play he then said the last time he played me I held the bag incorrectly and I could see the tiles ( I interpreted this as an accusation of Cheating) at this point I stopped the clock and called for the TD. Barry Harridge came to the table and asked what the problem was. I explained what Mohammed had said. BH asked me to demonstrate how I drew tiles, I held the bag as I always do above the table, averted my eyes and drew my tiles placing each one on my score sheet face down until I had the correct number of tiles, only then did I look at them and place them on my rack. BH advised Mohammed that there was nothing wrong with the way I drew tiles and directed him to proceed with the game. We completed the game in a very uncomfortable atmosphere.
I was humiliated at being asked to demonstrate how I selected tiles by the TD. I was very upset by this whole incident.
I am not a Cheat.
Dorothy Barraclough
________________________________________________
3) Date of Incident: May 12 2008
Marj
On 12 May at the XB tournament, I was disturbed to notice a player cheating with tiles in one of the rated games.
John Mina was playing Mohammed Hegazi, and I was seated beside Mohammed. My game had finished so I was watching play on their board, when Mohammed made a move leaving 2 tiles on his rack. JM took a fairly long time to respond, and while he was doing so Mohammed slipped one of his tiles onto his chair, under his leg. That enabled him to go out on the last move.
He won the game, but he was far enough ahead to win anyway, unless JM went out with a bingo.
I was uncomfortable about saying anything at the time, aware of etiquette in not commenting on other competitors’ plays at rated tournaments, but I was distressed to see it, given the frequency with which Mohammed accuses other players of cheating.
Perhaps I should have reported this earlier. I apologise for not doing so.
Katie Rowe
________________________________________________
4} Date of Incident: June 9 2008
Dear Marj
Here is my account of the incident at the Victorian Championship as I remember it.
Early in the game of Mohammed Hegazi vs KT in round 18, Mohammed stated his intention to concede the game and not proceed with it. I came over to see what was going on. I asked Mohammed why he wanted to stop, and he gave no reason, saying he just wanted to concede. When I persisted, he said that in the course of replenishing tiles from her rack, KT had selected too many tiles, returning some further tiles from her rack. I found nothing to suggest that KT had done such a thing. KT did not understand what Mohammed was alleging. The game was stopped. It was treated as an unrated game with a forfeit by Mohammed and an imputed win to KT with a nominal spread of +1. KT was very upset. I warned Mohammed that any further incident would result in disciplinary action.
Mohammed’s baseless allegation in this case is yet another in a string of cases which is upsetting to players and disruptive to the smooth running of tournaments.
Barry Harridge
________________________________________________
5) Date of Incident: June 9 2008
Dear Marj
Have thought a bit about this - but really isn’t is possible to do something about Mahommed. At each tournament, seemingly, he upsets a woman so badly that she spends the day and much of the evening as well in tears and shaken. Yesterday again and KJ is such a good natured and helpful person. Please Marj perhaps I’m not wording this as well as it might be, but the man is a menace. You have mentioned a few times that the numbers for the tournaments has dropped could it be the tension that is felt because of his behaviour not to mention Doug has caused this drop.
Tell me to mind my own business if you will - but come to think of it it is my business - it’s my day out too - and to watch people, one at each tournament at least, becoming so upset is very distressing.
________________________________________________
6) Date of Incident: August 17 2008
Dear Madam President,
I was so upset by the rude and unsportsmanlike behaviour of Mohammed Hegazi at the Memorial Tournament last Sunday, that I have decided not to attend any more tournaments in Melbourne, except for the Senior Citizens Challenge in October.
Yours sincerely,
Ruth Fewings
________________________________________________
7) Date of Incident: August 17 2008
To Scrabble Committee
18th August 2008
Dear Committee members,
I wish to complain about the bad behavior of Mohammed Hegazi at yesterdays Memorial Tournament.
Yesterday I witnessed yet another of our members (a most senior one at that) Ruth Fewings be subjected to his awful behavior. Bridget Halge and I were so upset and concerned for RF we had to stop our clock to regain composure for our game.
I personally have been in this position with Mohammed (At the Nationals) and it is very unpleasant to say the least.
Dorothy Barraclough
Membership Officer
(Continued overpage)
7) contd. MY OBSERVATIONS OF WHAT HAPPENED
Mohammed was late for the start of the game, Marj came and started the clock, at this stage I was unaware who Ruth Fewings’s opponent was.
When Mohammed arrived at the table to find his clock had been started he threw something on the table and told RF it was her game and walked off.
Marj came and eventually got them to start play. Mohammed wanted to start Ruth’s clock before she has selected her tiles and she objected causing more distress. Bridget Halge and l were very distressed and upset for RF at being subjected to this behavior, we stopped our Clock for some time to regain our composure. When we recommenced our game the unpleasantness went on, we stopped our Clock again and I informed Marj that Mohammed was still giving RF a hard time. Barry Harridge sat and observed the latter stages of the game between RF and Mohammed, with no further incident I believe.
Barry H sat with RF for quite some time afterwards consoling her, she was just so upset.
________________________________________________
8) Date of Incident: August 17 2008
Dear Marj,
I’m writing to express my frustration at the joy having been taken out yet again, of my enjoyment of a scrabble tournament when I witnessed Ruth Fewings' distress while she was playing a game against Mohammed Hegazi. It was evident that a confrontation had taken place. My partner and I had to stop the clock so we could compose ourselves before we continued with our game.
The reason I was so badly affected by what happened to Ruth Fewings was that my experiences of playing against Mohammed have been nerve racking and filled with anxiety. I experience his behaviour as hostile and intimidating which results in my inability to play my best. Each time I see his name listed as a participant in a tounament, my heart sinks because I dread the prospect of having to play against him.
I ask that the committee seeks to redress this situation through whatever means that are open to you. Regards, Bridger Halge
________________________________________________
9) Date of Incident: August 10 2008
Hi Marj
As far as I can remember it went like this
Mohammed placed a 7 letter word on the board over the triple score on the right hand border
He announced ‘200’
As he had played this game with me at a previous tournament I said to him ‘come on now you’re not doing this to me again’ and called Carol Johnsen over to adjudicate
What it was was that his time was running out - he was playing for time or some such
________________________________________________
10) Date of Incident/s: August 10 & 17th 2008
To Mohammed Hegazi
c. c.
Stephanie Saunders
Norma Fisher
Marj Miller
Ruth fewings
Dear Mohammed,
I am writing to you, firstly in my capacity as the Mornington Tournament Director, and secondly, as a member of the Victorian committee.
At the Mornington tournament, it was of concern to me that I was called over to a game where you had facetiously declared a score of 200 for a play which clearly did not total that amount. I consider that this ploy was done in an insolent and ill-mannered manner by you to upset your opponent, which it certainly did. I have now observed from your blog that you had deliberately intended to enact this deceptive and time-wasting ploy which is even more distressing to me and, as it was, to your opponent.
I am writing to you now because, at our regular Victorian committee meeting held late last week, it came to my notice that there had already been a warning issued to you by the Tournament Director Barry Harridge with regard to your inappropriate behaviour towards an opponent at the recent Victorian Championships.
Following that also, at the Gwen Chadwick Memorial tournament last Sunday, you managed to upset one of our longest-playing and highly-respected players; which not only distressed her but those who witnessed it happening.
The above is why I now believe it prudent to send this email to the committee and give notice that I will be moving a motion that the committee take out disciplinary action against you for what appears to be your continuing unacceptable behaviour.
Whilst you have general concerns with the rules of the game, which you can address in writing to Trevor Halsall, the Victorian representative on the Rules Committee, you appear to constantly upset innocent opponents at tournaments with unacceptable comments and, as in the case at the Mornington Tournament, ill-mannered tactics.
Your faithfully,
Carol Johnsen
--------------------------------------------------
For the purpose of accuracy, two more “incidents” miraculously cropped up after sending me the registered mail letter. They were handed on to me on the day of the enquiry. One was related to my “bad behaviour”, the other was related to a dispute over how to calculate extra time on the clock, which was resolved in a few seconds during the tournament, but is scored on Trevor Halsall’s abacus as a second attempt at cheating, to be added to Katie Rowe’s ridiculous claim. I would like Trevor Halsall to tell us how 1+1 is equal to or greater than 5 on his abacus:
Hi Harry. Sounds like you're on a bit of a crusade here. Did you read in my last email that the Vic committee did not just rely on one suspected incident of cheating? From memory there were at least five, all from different tournaments. There were also multiple reports of very poor behaviour towards other Scrabblers. In all there were twelve documents submitted to the committee detailing such. We also followed the rules of our constitution assiduously, as well as observing common decency. No-one wants to ban a Scrabble player - we all just want to play Scrabble. Hence we took our job very seriously. And hence I, for one, am not taking your casual utterances lightly! Trevor
To: ozscrabble@yahoogroups.com
___________________________________________________________
All of the above took place in 2008. In 2011, the following motion was considered at the AGM of Scrabble Victoria:
3. MOTION: Members of ASPA(Vic) hereby extend an apology to ASPA (Vic) member Mohammed Hegazi, in relation to an unsubstantiated claim of cheating made against him.
The claim of cheating is attached herewith as “addendum (1) to motion”; a statement by Mohammed Hegai is attached as “addendum (2) to motion”
Moved: Tess Robinson
Seconded: Geoff Wright
Addendum (1) to motion:
On 12 May at the XB tournament, I was disturbed to notice a player cheating with the tiles in one of the rated games.
John Mina was playing Mohammed Hegazi, and I was seated beside Mohammed. My game had finished so I was watching play on their board, when Mohammed made a move leaving 2 tiles on his rack. JM took a fairly long time to respond, and while he was doing so Mohammed slipped one of his tiles onto his chair, under his leg. That enabled him to go out on the last move.
He won the game, but he was far enough ahead to win anyway, unless JM went out with a bingo.
I was uncomfortable about saying anything at the time, aware of etiquette in not commenting on other competitors’ plays at rated tournaments, but I was distressed to see it, given the frequency with which Mohammed accuses other players of cheating.
Perhaps I should have reported this earlier. I apologise for not doing so.
Signed: Katie Rowe
Addendum (2) to motion
Statement by Mohammed Hegazi
I make reference to an allegation of cheating made against me by Ms Katie Rowe. She was watching the game in question together with the TD, Geoff Wright, until the very end of the game. They were exchanging whispering comments about the game. Ms Rowe claims that etiquette prevented her from reporting the alleged incident to the TD at the time, yet she saw fit to report it in writing to Mrs Marj Miller, 5 months after the tournament. Mrs Miller in turn saw fit to table such unsubstantiated claim for discussion with me in a Committee meeting.
If Ms Rowe’s story had any shade of truth in it, she should have alerted the TD to the incident at the time. The TD would have ascertained the validity of her claim.
Mohammed Hegazi
____________________________________________
Presiding over the meeting, Carol Johnsen insisted on a secret ballot. I objected and offered to have a walk away from the meeting while the issue would be decided by a show of hands. My offer was turned down by Carol Johnsen.
This is the Full story from A to Y. The Z part would be decided in one of two ways:
(a) an unconditional and unequivocal apology by the Committee;
(b) a decision by the Melbourne Magistrates Court.
Finally, a word of advice and warning to the Committee:
(a) dismissing me now, using your hackneyed cliché of “putting the Association to disrepute”, does not impede legal action. It would make the case weaker for you.
(b) wasting the Association’s funds on litigation is unethical. Members of the Committee should use their own personal funds for initial legal advice, since the sole aim would be to bolster their own egos.
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