TCa, Inc. LogoThe Traditional Cat Association, Inc.©1987®TM Official Website
Founded 1987, by Diana L. Fineran
 

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TCA, Inc. vs TACCI
Copyright Information

TCA, Inc. continues to make history by protecting
its members and their registered cats.
(The contents of this website reflects Diana Fineran's opinions and perspective
about the lawsuits, what led up to them, and the outcome.)

 1.    When Laura Gilbreath was handed the registry contents by Diana Fineran, as transferred from the third prior Head Registrar, Gilbreath-Zimmerman became our Fourth (4th) Head Registrars.  All of the Registry was created and in place before they were members. Therefore, there is no way they can take credit for creating the TCA, INC. Registry.   

 

 

 

 

2. In 1998 Diana Fineran was the legally elected Treasurer of TCA, INC.  For no reason the Officers and Board removed her from the TCA, INC. list server.  Every manor of slander and mis-information ensued against her.  She was not afforded a chance to defend herself.  All of them had her phone # and email address but none of the removed Board ever contacted her about resolving this. 

 

 

3.      By this time, Board meetings were not being held, which was not according to the TCA, INC. Constitution, By-Laws, Registry and Show Rules.  It was a free for all with several of the officers and board being left out of meetings and votes. The Youngbloods left.   Other board members also resigned. The former board didn’t have a quorum to make any decisions, yet they blundered on without it!!

 

 

 4.      Gilbreath describes her own character!  I felt mislead by her and the legally removed Board by their words and actions.

 

 



 5.      They admit, as the legally elected Treasurer and Founder, Diana Fineran was not “in the loop” of the so called “meetings” they were holding.  Several other officers were also left out of "the loop". Decisions were made without the full officers and board attending or even allowed input!

 

 

 6.      The then TCA, Inc. Vice President tried to mediate, but to no avail.

 

 


 

7.      Again, she tried to mediate, but to no avail. Diana Fineran has never received an apology from those who damaged TCA, Inc and her!

 

 



8.     Diana Fineran was removed as Treasurer without a vote of the TCA, Inc. members, as required. She was never contacted about this.  They just acted without authority! All of a sudden the Secretary, Randi Briggs, was collecting TCA, INC. money! There is no Constitutional back up for this! Diana did not deserve this treatment!



 

 9.      Laura Gilbreath was “um” put in as Treasurer with no vote of the TCA, Inc. members as required by the Constitution and Bylaws.  They again acted without any authority.  They just did it! They made up the rules to suit their own purposes. The Registrar began collecting TCA, INC. money.  There is no Constitutional back up for this!


 

 

 10.  All magazine and web page advertising was taken over by the removed board. Diana Fineran tried to protect TCA, INC. and the breeders from damage.  All TCA, INC. breeders lost their web and magazine advertising due to the activities of the removed board.  Diana attempted to recoup damages on behalf of breeders from the court. Their actions were done without a vote or input from the breeders, nor the members.

 

 11.  No vote was ever taken by the membership as required.

 

 

 

 12.  Office-Board Member, Debra Wannschaff, writes her opinion.  She was denied access to the so called “meetings” that the legally removed board was having on the web. 

 

 


 

 13.  More from Debra Wannschaff as she complains of being harassed by telephone.  She reported it to the police. 

 

 

 

 14.  More from Debra Wannschaff.  Keep in mind that she was a volunteer Board Member.

 
 


 

 15.  Diana Fineran founded TCA, Inc.  The removed board was determined to throw her out of TCA, INC.  This was unsupported by the TCA, INC. Constitution, By-Laws, Registry and Show Rules.  No vote was done to the membership for their input, as required.  She was just thrown out.  They have been doing the throwing out and misrepresenting it for over 8 years.    


 

 16.  A Special Meeting of the Members was held with a legal vote done by the full membership of TCA, INC. This went to the full membership as required by the TCA, INC. Constitution, By-Laws, Registry and Show Rules.  The Officers and Board were legally removed from office by a vote of the full membership of TCA, INC. effective August 17, 1998. The removed board ignored the members vote and ignored being legally removed from office.



 

 

 17.  Then the legally removed board began a harassment and threat campaign toward all TCA, INC. volunteers by phone and by letters AFTER they were removed from office.  This letter was sent to several.  All of it is misrepresentation. Almost all of our volunteers resigned due to the harassment that followed, causing further damage. I tried to stop this harm to TCA, INC. and its members.



 

 

 
18.  More harassment letters sent to TCA, INC. volunteers. None of this was deserved in any way.

 





 

 19.  A member of the legally removed board worked for a police department.  Who would have benefitted, and had access to potential sources like this?

 

 

 

 

 20. Witnessed recordings on Diana Fineran's answering machine.  Their attorney listened to these messages.  When Randi Briggs husband called Diana & John Fineran the first time, Diana hung up on him because she knew there was to be no contact between parties during the law suit.  He called a second time and left this message. It reveals their intentions.



 

 21.  The following week end Rick Briggs called again and John Fineran answered.

 




 

 22.  The legally removed board did not return assets of TCA, Inc. These included the TCA name, the TCA web site, the TCA list server, the TCA advertising in the cat magazines, TCA documents, the TCA Registry and the TCA Registry bank account.  TCA, INC. breeders, who stayed with the real TCA, INC., had their web pages removed from the web by the legally removed board.  They were throwing breeders off of the web and not allowing them access to their own web pages!


 

 23.   TCA, INC. Attorney  letter about the web site the legally removed board published after the lawsuit.     

 
 


 

 

24. Continuance of the Defamation Lawsuit.

 

 

 

 

 

25. The final lawsuit filed to protect TCA, Inc and its members.

 

 

 

 

 

26. The appeal brief that summarizes about the lawsuit.

 

 

 

 

 

27. The final Court judgment of the Lawsuit. TCA, Inc. was granted an injunction against TACCI - see section 2.

 

 

 

 



28. The final Settlement Agreement. This lawsuit was directed against TACCI and five individuals. The individuals were protected by the corporate umbrella, and an appellate court, which set a president in defamation cases allowing them escape prosecution for defamation.

 However, TACCI was found to have used unfair business practices, and an injunction was sustained against TACCI following the California Business and Professional Code 17200, for Unfair Competition. The agreement references payments - that were made to cover the appeal costs of the defamation case.  No TCA monies were used in this cause.

Diana Fineran owns the Federal Copyrights for the TCA, Inc. documents, breed names, and breed standards, etc. No action has changed that.

Anyone who dealt with TACCI with the understanding that they were the Traditional Cat Association, Inc. at any time - showing, registry, membership, donations, etc., may have a case against TACCI.   Contact your attorney for information.

Any registrations (signed by Laura Gilbreath), show winnings (that do not appear at http://www.show.traditinalcats.com ), etc that were done by TACCI after August 17, 1998 are considered null and void, and are not recognized by the Traditional Cat Association, Inc.

To ensure the integrity of the TCA, Inc. Breeders List and Breeders Directory, we do not recommend doing business with anyone listed with TACCI.

29. Following the trial, it was determined that conditions existed that were in opposition to the court mandated decision, and the TACCI was in violation of this decision.

 

 

 

 

 

 


Members Sound Off!


--------------------------------

Hi Diana & John,

 
I read about your legal trouble on the weekend. I am totally shocked that those people could screw you around like that! It just proves that no matter how well you think you know and trust someone they could still turn on you and make your life a living hell. But you persevered and in the end you won. I really admire your fortitude and courage in fighting for what you believe in. And we, as traditional Siamese breeders, truly thank you for all you've done to keep TCA as a legitimate registry for the benefit of all traditional breeds. I would wholeheartedly recommend you for an award if there was one but there isn't. So please rest assured that at the very least you have our gratitude.
 
I also noticed you got nothing from the settlement which was a gross miscarriage of justice. So I sent you a donation to use as you wish. It isn't much, it's only $25 but if everyone kicked in a $25 donation I'm sure it would go a long way towards reimbursing you for all the expenses you incurred in winning this fight.
Dear Diana,

It took me a long time to read all of the documents.  Some of it was very "lawyerly" and hard to slog through.  But I did persevere, for I wanted to understand all that has gone before, and what the exact nature of the law suit was. 

Now that I have finished reading it, I am sad that the final judgment was unfavorable to you.      
    I admire the courage that it took for you to fight this battle.  It must have been so stressful, and at times so lonely to have your former "friends" turn on you and do what they did.
    I still do not understand what motivated them to turn on you. But then, I must say, that until I encountered Breeder A and Breeder B,  I had never had the misfortune of being stabbed in the back.  But now that I have had encounters with the likes of these twisted people, I am entirely empathetic with you and how hurt you must have been. 
    I wish that the courts had awarded you the damages that you deserved.  It was not fair for you to have to pay the defendants even one cent.  They got off Scott- free!!
    Now that the ordeal is over, I assume that you will be determined to  devote your energies to more enjoyable pursuits. Your creativity and intelligence are your gifts from God.  No one ever can take that away from you!  You have begun a chapter in the history of the Traditional Cat Association, and like your child, TCA will grow and develop.  This is your lasting legacy.  Whatever the other copy-cat associations may do, they will have gotten their inspiration from you. Without your initiative, there would have been no TCA, (nor TACCI, or whatever else they call themselves).
    When I taught, I took it seriously when a college student plagiarized someone else's work, and if they were caught at plagiarism, there were serious consequences.  How any judge could fail to recognize that the theft of your intellectual property was an act of theft and plagiarism is beyond me!  
    I am so glad that I joined the right TCA from the beginning. I could have been sucked into the wrong TCA just as other people have been, who thought that they were in the one and only TCA.  It was just luck that kept me from falling into that trap.
    I am proud to be associated with you, Diana, and with John too!  The TCA and you have made an enormous contribution to my own success as a cat breeder, for without the ability to register my cats and my cattery name, plus to be able to be located by customers on the web, I would still be selling unregistered Applehead Siamese kittens through an ad in the newspaper. 

I am wondering if you will get any emails from the ones whom belong to both? If I were them I would get out from under their thumb so fast. If they are true to you they will. I do believe in you. Like I have said before it an honor to know you. At least you know where you stand with you, no two face. The time is right that maybe they will see how GOOD you are to your own.

 

 

 
   
 
         
 

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©1987®TM
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