Bruce Schobel says he still considers himself to be president-elect of the American Academy of Actuaries and is going to court to try to prove it.
Schobel filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction against his removal by board of directors of the association Aug. 5. He is demanding more than $2 million in penalties against the AAA, charging the group with removing him illegally and defaming him, according to papers filed with the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia.
The AAA, Washington, announced Aug. 27 that its president-elect position was vacant. It gave no reason for the vacancy.
John Parks, current president of the AAA has asked the group's nominating committee to fill the vacancy, the group said in its announcement.
Schobel had been elected unanimously by the AAA board of directors in October 2008 to be the group's next president effective Oct. 26, 2009, when Parks' term ends.
In his court filing Tuesday, Schobel charged that the board's decision to remove him violated the law in Illinois, where the group was incorporated, as well as the AAA's own bylaws.
The court papers did not give specific details the reasons for the board's decision to remove him. The papers did state, however, that an opponent had recently warned Schobel he would reveal "embarrassing information" about him to the board if he did not withdraw as president-elect. The nature of the information the adversary allegedly threatened to disclose was not disclosed.
