R-CALF extends olive branch

[Sandhusker]

CEO Breaks Silence Regarding Director Shake-up;

Extends Olive Branch to End Lawsuits Against Former Directors



Statement by R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard



Billings, Mont. – “R-CALF USA experienced a shake-up in early 2007. Driven by member-established policy, the majority of its directors had officially demanded that USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) not issue the over-30-month (OTM) Rule concerning BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) because USDA failed to disclose its plan to allow both OTM cattle and OTM beef into the United States. The seated president and a minority of directors disagreed and took steps that reversed R-CALF USA’s official action. This led to a vote by the board of directors to unseat the president. Resignations by the president, three additional board members and several committee chairs followed.

During the next 18 months, R-CALF USA worked to reinstate its member-established position that the OTM Rule must be stopped, in part because the agency brazenly failed to disclose its true intentions. In July 2008, a federal court agreed and ordered USDA to open a new rulemaking to disclose the agency’s true intentions.

While R-CALF USA fought to stop the OTM Rule, departed directors and committee chairs formed a new organization to compete against R-CALF USA. One committee chair also claimed ownership of R-CALF USA’s magazine. When R-CALF USA learned about a plan to use the organization’s confidential membership list to solicit members away from R-CALF USA, and when confidential employee documents surfaced on the Internet, the R-CALF USA board of directors – in fulfilling its fiduciary duties to the organization – was compelled to file two lawsuits in state court to protect the proprietary information of its members and its organization.

The lawsuits initially worked. R-CALF USA’s rights to its magazine were restored, confidential employee documents were removed from the Internet, and R-CALF USA’s confidential membership list was protected by a court order prohibiting any unauthorized use. Recent decisions by the state court would make it difficult for R-CALF USA to obtain any further relief without pursuing a protracted appeal that could take years to resolve.

Upon obtaining the July 2008 federal court decision on the OTM Rule that corrected the departed directors’ efforts to undermine R-CALF USA’s member-established policy, R-CALF USA had achieved the most important purposes of its pending lawsuit against its former directors. And, R-CALF USA remains well positioned in its ongoing legal challenge of the OTM Rule.

R-CALF USA has now offered to settle its lawsuit against the departed directors in full if the departed directors merely agree to return, destroy or otherwise not use R-CALF USA’s confidential documents, including its membership lists, for any purpose.


As a result of this experience, the R-CALF USA board of directors enacted new policies to ensure the protection of its members’ and employees’ confidential information, as well as its confidential information concerning specific legal strategies.”

[Cattleprod24]

Surely no one is falling for Bullard's latest spin on the lawsuits against former directors/founders/members! The group who (smartly) departed R-CALF last year never used membership lists or anything else of R-CALF's to recruit members into the newly formed US Cattlemen's Assoc. Bullard and Thornsberry's paranoia and vengeance is what sparked the lawsuits, nothing more. All they needed to do was telephone either Kiker, Wooster or McDonald and they would have been assured these gentlemen either did not have the membership lists or they had no intention of using them. That did not happen and as a result R-CALF members have given Bullard and Thornsberry over $100,000 of their hard-earned money to proceed with this lunacy. The defendants in turn have spent over $100,000 to defend themselves. That's over $200,000 wasted to appease the inflated egos of Bullard and Thornsberry. The judge has dismissed Kiker from the lawsuit, has granted McDonald's Motion for Summary Judgement based on the grounds R-CALF could not prove their case, and is in the process of hearing Wooster's Motion for Summary Judgement. I suspect Wooster will also win his motion as R-CALF simply cannot prove their speculative assertions (because they are simply not true!). As Bullard states in his press release, "Recent decisions by the state court would make it difficult for R-CALF USA to obtain any further relief without pursuing a protracted appeal that could take years to resolve." That is probably the only valid statement made in this press release.

Unfortunately, R-CALF is in the same place it was 18 months ago when they filed this baseless lawsuit, except that producers have been fleeced out of over $100,000 due to poor leadership by the CEO, President and Board of Directors.

Don't be fooled by Bullard's feeble attempt to tell you this suit was necessary to protect the organization - there was never any threat from those who left the organization to harm R-CALF, it was only in the paranoid and twisted minds of Bullard and Thornsberry.

The most mind-boggling assertion of all is that this lawsuit was necessary to proceed with opposing the OTM rule! This lawsuit NEVER had anything to do with the OTM rule - that is just something pulled out of the hat by Bullard in his latest press release to throw up a smoke screen and to shield himself from losing his extremely lucrative job!

As long and Bullard and Thornsberry are running R-CALF, any member who continues to give to the organization is just throwing their money down a black hole. I urge members to call for both Bullard and Thornsberry's resignations before giving them one more dime.

[Cattleprod24]

In case you missed it, here is a letter to the editor from a Montana rancher:

R-CALF Loses Again!

The lawsuit that R-CALF filed against Dennis McDonald was dismissed by order of the court on August 1, 2008. McDonald filed a Motion for Summary Judgment and Judge Todd Baugh, Billings District Court, granted that motion.

The complaint R-CALF filed now is focused on Jon Wooster as the only remaining defendant. However, R-CALF has now turned their sights on Leo McDonnell whose deposition is scheduled for September 10, 2008.

This litigation is nothing more than an effort at childish retribution. R-CALF as an organization is crumbling and this type of lawsuit is all they have. R-CALF has spent an estimated $100,000 on this lawsuit and as long as producers across the country continue to fund this foolish endeavor; R-CALF will continue to strike out claiming others are responsible for their demise. Today it is clear that R-CALF continues to exist for two primary reasons: to finance frivolous litigation and to pay Bill Bullard’s $160,000 plus annual salary.

It is very apparent that Mr. Thornsberry could never handle Leo McDonnell’s fame in fine tuning R-CALF to it’s prominence in the cattle industry. He wanted to be the top dog so bad; he took the whole organization down with him. Every dirty trick he has pulled so far has backfired. Too bad; it was a good organization once with good people at the helm.

The Court’s order can be read in it’s entirety at www.swiftstallions.com

Hugh Broadus
Forsyth MT

[longhorndan987]

It sounds like Bullard's offer is "too little too late". The damage has been done. He and Thornsberry have reduced R-CALF's credibility to nil. He should have gotten his facts straight before he launched this expensive lawsuit. Now it seems he realizes he is in the wrong and is trying to find a way to save face and dupe the membership into believing why he has no regrets in needlessly throwing away our money. Sorry, Bullard, it's not going to happen. You've dug yourself into this hole and you're going to have to get yourself out of it WITHOUT my money!

By the way, going after Leo McDonnell is a huge, stupid mistake. Leo is the only reason R-CALF exists. Your dirty hand in getting rid of him only solidifies for me the realization R-CALF is no longer an organization I can support.

[burnt]

Some of us wonder why this understanding took sooooo long to sink in.


Better late than never, I guess.



Just think about what could have been had all of the total dollars wasted in litigation been invested in positive approaches to helping the cattle industry.


I guess education has a high cost at times. Hopefully the lessons take root or they will once again be wasted.

[Denny]

So what your saying is they are running out of money to sue people.

[Sandhusker]

Maybe they'll start doing the NCBA thing and roll over and let cattlemen get hosed.....

[longhorndan987]

Bullard and Thornsberry are already doing the hosing - to their own members! Lying to membership and stealing their money is reprehensible.

There simply is no accountability anymore and apparently those two enjoy working for an organization with an open checkbook so they can fund their own personal vendettas!!

[Cinch]

[Cattleprod24]

They have certainly acted without MEMBERSHIP approval. The membership was never given the opportunity to vote on whether or not to pursue this litigation. Nor have they ever been told the amount that has been spent to date. In fact, I understand even board members (at least one for sure) when asked for an accounting was refused that information. Even in his deposition, Bullard stated he did not know the amount spent - how's that for managing your funds?

If you think this is how a non-profit, membership-driven organization should work then go ahead and give them our dollars.

As far as "stealing" money - what else do you call this. They have told contributors the money is going to be spent on the OTM/Canadian litigation. In fact, according to Bullard's himself, all funds are put into one pot and out of that pot that you thought your OTM dollars were going into the attorneys were paid for the litigation against former directors - litigation NOT approved by the membership. In my book that is "stealing", or "fraud", or whatever else you want to call it. If you're talking about another lawsuit, it should be a class-action suit by the members against the Board.

If what they have done is not illegal, it most certainly is IMMORAL!

[Sandhusker]

Why is it that the people with all the problems (and half the story) aren't R-CALF members? What do we have here, the Steve Dittmer fan club?

[HAY MAKER]