Court of Master Sommeliers continues to be rocked by allegations of sexual misconduct by a number of members. Geoff Kruth, chief operating officer of the Americas unit, has stepped down, the board has said it will resign and called for new elections and 11 members have been suspended from all activities pending an investigation by Lagse Branch Bell + Kinkead.
It’s the latest fallout from the sexual abuse scandal. Virginia Phillip, vice chair, said various options will be presented to members latewst this week.
“We need to overhaul our organization’s culture to create a safe environment for everyone, and that is what we are striving to do,” she said. “But that can only happen when our organization and community are unified in creating positive change. Polarization and splintering are detrimental and extremely harmful for a successful transition to the creation of the renewed organization that we would all like to see.”
The 11 members who have been suspended from all programming are: Robert Bath, Matthew Citriglia, Fred Dame, Eric Entrikin, Greg Harrington, Drew Hendricks, Matt Stamp, Brian Cronin, Fred Dexheimer, Joseph Linder and Devon Broglie.