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The Case Against Paul Truong
Ten Points
1.
The United States Chess Federation (USCF) Executive
Board shall manage the affairs of the Federation, including employment and
other contracts, between meetings of the Board of Delegates and shall
perform other duties as specified in the Federation
Bylaws.
2.
All
Executive Board members are national officers of the USCF.
3. Effective in August 2007, Mr. Paul Truong was elected to a four
year term as a member of the USCF Executive Board and selected
as Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the first two years of that term.
4.
The standards, procedures, and sanctions set forth in
the Code of Ethics of the United States Chess
Federation
shall apply to actions and behavior by individuals and entities acting
in an official capacity as officers or representatives of the USCF.
5.
As a USCF ID is attached, a USCF member
is solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their
Password, and for all use of the Service under their User Name and
Password. Note the Username ChessPromotion has the USCFId of
12123950 which under the USCF Member Search
List has the Member
Name of TRUONG, PAUL HOAINHAN M.
6.
Mr. Paul Truong was a member of the USCF Executive Board acting in an official
capacity as an officer during September
2007.
7.
Usenet postings were sent from the same Internet
connection as the legitimate USCF activity of user ChessPromotion. The close
correlation in time with some of the activity, most notably on 09/19/2007,
combined with the correlation in space, as both activities moved from Texas
to Mexico on 09/20/2007, leads
one to the clear conclusion that a single individual is responsible for legitimate postings under the nickname ChessPromotion and for sending certain fake messages to Usenet groups that appear
to come from others.
8.
Specifically: The
Usenet postings in question are being posted from the same location that
Mr. Truong is believed to be in at the time of the posting. The
IP addresses on the USCF forums, which are tied to the username used by Mr.
Truong, are also being made from the same location that Mr. Truong is
believed to be in at the time of the posting. From 09/10/2007 through 09/25/2007,
the IP addresses tied to the Usenet postings are the same as the USCF forum
ChessPromotion posting
IP addresses.
9.
The Usenet postings in
question are
inappropriate
for someone [also] acting in an official capacity as an officer or
representative of the USCF as posting under another’s name is deceptive therefore dishonest and
the contents of the posts are disrespectful.
10.
Thus there appears to be
sufficient suspicion to believe that inappropriate comments about
others were posted to the Internet under an assumed name by the current Vice President – Marketing and
Communications, Mr. Paul Truong which represents behavior "inconsistent with the principles of
fair play, good sportsmanship, honesty and respect for the rights of
others" as specified in Section 6 of the Code of
Ethics of the United States Chess Federation. Further the Standards of
Conduct for the USCF Executive Board GENERAL PRINCIPLES state “they are
expected to act lawfully and in accordance with USCF policy, and to adhere
consistently to the principles of fairness, honesty, and respect
for the rights of others.”
Any
clear,
conclusive, and absolutely rock solid evidence to disprove the points
presented in this case is welcomed. Assuming I presented the issue
properly, if jurisdiction is not accepted then those who advocated this as
the proper venue were incorrect. If jurisdiction
is accepted Mr. Truong has the opportunity to air all his evidence to the
committee as he said he would. Regardless Mr. Truong is encouraged to air
all his evidence regarding this case.
Complaint
Chronology
Express
Mailed to USCF:
01/14/2008
Arrived
at pick-up-point in Crossville, TN: 01/16/2008
Picked
up by USCF:
01/17/2008 signed for by J Wright
Acknowledged
by USCF:
01/18/2008
Forwarded
to Ethics Committee:
01/22/2008
Jurisdiction:
10/06/2008
Complaint:
Response:
Rebuttal:
Final Statement:
Recommendation:
Appeal:
Recent
Correspondence:
From: WPraeder
To: jmisner@uschess.org
Sent: 5/3/2008 4:23:03 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Re: Praeder VS
Truong
May 3, 2008
Judy,
I have written to the USCF regarding the
status of this case on January 17th (Bill Hall), February 14th, March 19th,
March 27th, April 4th, and April 11th. On April 11, 2008 you informed me
that Mr. Deer was in the process of putting together a letter to me
regarding the case. On March 27th you thought you could be receiving an
update from the Ethics Committee shortly. As of today I still have not
heard anything from you or the USCF Ethics Committee regarding the status
of the case. I was still wondering if the complaint has yet been examined
to determine if it falls within the Committee's jurisdiction?
At this point I hope the Committee should be able to say YES, NO or we are
still deliberating until...; as others may wish to submit follow-on
complaints. With all the time that
has passed, I don't think an answer is too much to request
regarding this highly visible USCF issue in which the facts need to be
aired, as we have been told, through the proper organizational channels.
Based on my previous experience with the
USCF Ethics Committee, I find this lengthy absence of communication
from the Committee to be unusual. I would hope that there has just been a
well intentioned mistake rather than an instance of neglect, lack of
diligence, or a purposeful failure to communicate.
Once again thank you for all your ongoing
assistance.
Regards,
Wayne Praeder
From: jmisner@uschess.org
To: WPraeder@aol.com
CC: BHall@uschess.org
Sent: 5/5/2008 11:34:52 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Re: Praeder VS
Truong
May 5, 2008
Hi Wayne,
Thank you for your email.
I will be reviewing this situation with Bill H, if not today, then
definately tomorrow.
Thanks,
Judy
From: Judy Misner
<jmisner@uschess.org>
To: WPraeder@aol.com
Sent: Tue, 13 May 2008 11:58 am
Subject: Re: Praeder VS Truong
May 13, 2008
Hi Wayne,
I have reviewed the situation with Bill Hall. Bill Hall asked that you give
him a call on his cell#:
Thanks Wayne,
Judy
From: WPraeder
To: jmisner@uschess.org
Sent: 6/7/2008 11:19:44 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Re: Praeder VS
Truong
Judy,
As you suggested, I spoke with Mr. Hall on
May 13th and he conveyed that he would try to find out the
status of the complaint for us and to give him two weeks to do so. As of
today, I have no additional information.
At this point, without any
explanation, I’m unclear how the Committees’ volunteer status equates into
even more patience and leniency. Those waiting for this complaint to be resolved may conclude
that the USCF Ethics Committee has failed to exercise the standard of care
in this matter that a reasonably prudent group of people would have
exercised in a similar situation. If there is anything the Committee can do
to remedy the apparent inattention to communicating on this matter it would
be appreciated.
I know you are doing the best you can on the
memberships behalf and I want to thank you very much for all your help in
this matter.
Regards,
Wayne Praeder
From: jmisner@uschess.org
To: WPraeder@aol.com
Sent: 6/10/2008 11:01:19 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Re: Praeder VS
Truong
June 10, 2008
Hi Wayne,
I let Bill H know that we received your email and he asked that you give
him a call for an update.
Thanks Wayne,
Judy
From: WPraeder
To: jmisner@uschess.org
Sent: 6/13/2008 3:45:35 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Re: Praeder VS Truong
Judy,
It appears the USCF Ethics Committee has refused to address or communicate
on this issue. The only outstanding matter is the disposition of my good
faith deposit. Thank you so much for all your assistance and
persistence in this matter.
Regards,
Wayne Praeder
From: jmisner@uschess.org
To: wpraeder@aol.com
CC: BHall@uschess.org
Sent: 6/13/2008 10:07:03 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Re: Praeder VS
Truong
June 13, 2008
Hi Wayne,
I will take care of requesting a check in the amount of $25.00 to be
sent to you for your good faith deposit.
Thanks,
Judy Misner
USCF Managing Director of Operations
From: WPraeder
To: Chessoffice
Sent: 6/10/2008 8:38:03 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Fwd: Praeder VS
Truong
Bill,
I believe your direction to file an ethics complaint regarding [alleged]
poor behavior on the part of a board member has proven to be misguided. See
http://www.betteruscf.org/case.htm
Perhaps the USCF should consider other avenues for whistleblowers to help
channel reports of inappropriate behaviors in a more productive direction.
See http://www.aicpa.org/audcommctr/toolkitsnpo/Whistleblower_Tracking.htm
Regards,
Wayne Praeder
From: Chessoffice
To: WPraeder
Sent: 6/22/2008 6:20:09 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Re: Praeder VS
Truong
Wayne, thanks for filing what I feel was an
appropriate complaint. I don't understand why the Committee declined
to hear the case. A Committee of this type seems the right way to
handle such situations, but their decision in this case is
inexplicable.
The whistleblower material you present might
be helpful in some situations, but it seems to deal mainly with protecting
employees who reveal management misconduct against retribution.
The four Executive Board members who asked
Paul Truong to resign have placed a motion on the delegates
agenda asking him to resign, and another motion to initiate a recall.
Hopefully if these motions pass he will step down and save the Federation
the bad publicity and expense that are likely to result from having
the members presented with a recall vote.
Bill Goichberg
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U. S. Chess
Federation
www.uschess.org
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PO BOX 3967
CROSSVILLE, TN 38557-3967
Phone: (931) 787 - 1234
Fax: (931) 787 - 1200
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July
16, 2008
[Edited]
Dear
Mr. Praeder,
I
wanted to follow up with you regarding the status of the Ethics case that
you submitted to USCF:
Praeder VS Truong
Due
to several very serious family and medical emergencies, the Ethics
Committee has been unable to process your complaint. We expect the new Committee to take
action on your complaint as soon as possible after August 15, 2008.
We
apologize for the delay.
Sincerely,
Judy
Misner
USCF
Liaison to the Ethics Committee
Cc: Kenneth Sloan
From: Judy Misner
To: WPraeder
Sent: Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:04 am
Subject: Re: Praeder VS Truong Ethics Case
September 15, 2008
Hi Wayne,
Thank you for your email.
As of last week the Committee was reviewing your Ethics case and preparing
to vote on taking jurisdiction or not. Given their excellent progress in
pending cases since the Delegates meeting, I hope to hear their decision
very soon. I will let you know as soon as I receive their decision.
Thanks,
Judy
Postlude
US Chess
Federation v. Susan Polgar, Paul Truong
USCF's Expert Witness
Disclosure of Dr. Frederick B. Cohen
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