Paul Palmes
The US TAG to TC 176, responsible for forming official US position on ISO 9001 and related standards, has formally placed Paul Palmes in as its Chairman, ignoring the election controversies with rocked the TAG, and which now threaten to have it disbanded.
The TAG leadership, along with ANSI, has been warned that an official complaint was being filed alleging it ran a fixed election which saw former Chair Alka Jarvis hand-pick her slate of candidates, and then refuse to put competing candidates on the ballot; the final slate is comprised of those with an unprecedented amount of control in ASQ and quality professional publications, such as Quality Digest, who then — the complaint alleges — use their positions to further their private consulting practices, while inhibiting others from doing so. The TAG then engaged in a campaign of emails to members which, overall, aimed to intimidate independent thinking, cut off internal discussions between members, filter all communication through a single leadership point, and thus ensure the members voted for the Jarvis bloc. Finally, it was revealed that Palmes may have exaggerated his ISO 9001 related experience by more than 20 years, including entries he made on his official TAG nomination form.
In the meantime, the TAG faces an FTC complaint, and ASQ is embroiled in an IRS investigation over whether a call for donations to fund the TAG was illegal. Jarvis and the TAG leadership were asked to hold off on inaugurating Palmes until an investigation could be completed, and then to hold new elections allowing the members to nominate officers; the TAG has refused to do so.
Oxebridge has been in regular contact with both ANSI and the TAG over the controversies, but both bodies have refused to take action. ANSI demands that all appeals at the TAG level be exhausted before they can act, even in cases where the TAG is alleged to have broken the law. This position could put ANSI and its president Joe Bhatia in legal trouble, since they will not later be able to claim ignorance of the violations, if they are proven.
The US TAG, meanwhile, was sent a complaint but as new evidence emerged, Oxebridge noted that it intends to amend the complaint. Rather than take preemptive action on the allegations, the TAG is instead waiting for the amended complaint. The formal inauguration of Palmes would seem to telegraph that the TAG leadership has no intend to seriously investigating the allegations and is, like ANSI, using paperwork delays to extend the time in which they can continue to violate the rules.
The formal inauguration of Palmes ensures that the allegations of cronyism, monopoly abuse of power, and ineptitude will continue to plague the US TAG for as much as another decade.
Christopher Paris is the founder and VP Operations of Oxebridge. He has over 35 years’ experience implementing ISO 9001 and AS9100 systems, and helps establish certification and accreditation bodies with the ISO 17000 series. He is a vocal advocate for the development and use of standards from the point of view of actual users. He is the writer and artist of THE AUDITOR comic strip, and is currently writing the DR. CUBA pulp novel series. Visit www.drcuba.world
