Nathan writes:
It seems as though it would have benefited the organization to have simply stated at the time of separation between WMF and Ms. Doran that there were personnel issues which the Board was bound to disclose.
We could not have stated such a thing because it would have been legally incorrect to do so.
Additionally, a heads up about imminent disclosure would also have been in order given the fact that you consented to an interview with the Register (of all publications) and presumably were aware that the story would be published.
You may be sure that the question of whether to respond at all to the Register was fully discussed internally. Part of the problem here, I think, is that you are presuming we knew enough about what the Register was going to write to provide you with adequate information to respond to the story. I believe, for various reasons, that this was not the case. Please believe me when I say that I prefer to disclose pretty much everything, and that I prefer that responses to attacks of this sort come from the community in general rather than from me in particular.
Please also understand that I retitled this thread for a sound legal reason. You needn't take my word for it. Talk to any other lawyer who handles personnel matters.
If the WMF is unable to comment any further because of continuing legal constraints (which is completely possible) that too would be pertinent information.
I believe that's what I said.
If you intended to convey this in your response below, it isn't clear to me.
Here's what I wrote:
Now, you may disagree about this, and I respect your disagreement, but please understand that even a community-oriented, volunteer-driven enterprise can't always share all the information it has regarding a personnel matter. There are legal constraints that apply to the Board, to staff, and to anyone acting formally on the Foundation's behalf.
I actually used the words you used -- "legal constraints."
But I'll say it again. There are legal constraints on what we can say about a personnel matter.
--Mike