Well, I don’t think the ex-boss’s attempt at getting the current board members removed (see previous post) is going to be successful after what happened at last night’s board meeting! (Man, I wish I could’ve gone! Unfortunately, I had C class to attend...)
The meeting apparently had some revelations which, while not shocking to me at this point, were pretty shocking to most of the general public. Apparently, in addition to the tax fraud and numerous unpaid bills that were known about, the ex-boss had opened an account in the business’s name at a local home improvement center, and had spent thousands of dollars on things which NEVER came to the ex-job! (You know, fancy door knobs and expensive bathroom fixtures, the sort of thing that not only didn’t come to the ex-job, but which never would be purchased by a place like that.) That’s definitive proof that she was stealing… and the board announced that they are going to file criminal charges against her! (Apparently they’d wanted to make sure that they had an actual criminal case, not just a case of incompetence, before they involved the police.) Meanwhile, the forensic accountant they’ve hired is still investigating the bank account to determine where and to whom funds went, and they’re still trying to locate all of the accounts which had been opened in the name of the ex-job! Additionally, the ex-boss had been paying her husband several hundred dollars a week for “maintenance” – although he maybe did maintenance work up there once every other month… and she had been paying her daughter several hundred dollars a week for “help” she was allegedly providing from out of state! (Meanwhile, I know via the boyfriend that the ex-boss’s husband was on food stamps – despite the large salary his wife was bringing in, and despite the fact that he was getting paid several hundred dollars a week, albeit under the table!)
I am thrilled that the board has finally gone public with all of this, and that people in our local community and the national non-profit community in this sector can finally know the truth about what a terrible person the ex-boss is. The joy is, of course, thoroughly tempered by the knowledge that all this money was stolen from a cause that I care deeply about. So much suffering could have been alleviated if the ex-job had had the funds which she embezzled. Additionally, I know that several of my former coworkers – very hard-working people with families to support – had asked for raises several times, and had been told that there just wasn’t enough money. And unfortunately, since the board wants to get the place out of debt ASAP, I doubt raises are in their near future :-(
One of the newspaper reporters who was at the meeting (author of the article I mentioned in my previous post) wants to speak to me. (The Spy was at the meeting and he gave her my number. He’s also the reason why I know what happened there!) I figured I should run it past the board first, as they did ask me to keep this confidential… although since they’ve gone public, I don’t know what the problem would be. Unfortunately, having my name in the paper would just anger the ex-boss and her psychotic family who like to threaten me with bodily harm and dead pets (NPH!). So I bought some time by telling the reporter I had to run it past the board while I decide if I should talk to her or not. Thoughts?
7 comments:
BTW, the same type of thing happened here - thousands of dollars worth - and the money was supposed to help people with disabilities. Who can do that to this population - or the population at your ex-job? Definitely a special place in hell!!! And it took four years to rebuild the reputation of the non-profit so that anyone wanted to be involved or doante money, or serve ont he baord. BIG OL MESS!
And jsut FYI - one of the primary responsibilities of the board is financial oversight. Who was watching the henhouse???? There must have been no checks and balances! How nauseating!
something similar happened at a non-profit I know of (inluding paying the husband) for a total of about $85,000 and that woman is now in jail for years! One can hope!
I'd go with the same written statement going to both the reporter and the board (with a note attached like: This is a copy of what I've just submitted to so and so the reporter).
Also agree with the cautions on wording.
Best of luck in getting that measly tramp locked up.
I had actually been thinking about submitting a written statement for those very same reasons! Of course, the more I think about it, the less reason there is for me to speak to a reporter in the first place... she has all the pertinent facts!
Regarding the board: you're right there was NO OVERSIGHT WHATSOEVER. I mean, they met once a month, at which meetings she told them how wonderful things were, and they believed her. I've seen the "financial statements" she gave them at each meeting - with huge lump sums under categories like "facility improvement" but with no itemization at all... and they never questioned her. Only one board member ever came by regularly (and he actually came by 3-5 times a week). We had told him our concerns numerous times, and somehow when he presented these issues at the meetings, the ex-boss was able to convince the majority of the board that these weren't serious issues. (Part of the reason was that he'd promised to keep our names out of it, so he was presenting this as, "I've heard complaints that..." which the ex-boss was able to get the others to discount. He was the one who suggested to me, my friend and my replacement that we submit signed, written statements to the board, in order to get them to take these complaints seriously.) Sadly, I know that several of the board members are genuinely nice people who were simply naive enough to believe the ex-boss - and they have admitted as much. Nonetheless, I think that given the state of things, the board should resign, or at least stand for re-election. I would vote for the one member who always came by, but not for any of the others.
Personally, I think my mom should be on the board. She would whip them into shape! :-)
Whatever you do about talking to the press be VERY careful in your wording. In fact if anything I would submit a written statmetn as I have had reporters mis-quote me (including improper grammar which just made me sound ignorant!!!)
You have to be careful not to be sued for libel! You have to say things like "it appeared to me that...". "I am of the opinion that...". "It was reported to me that...". You can never say "her husband didn't work here or her daughter was never here but instead you can say "I was there xx hours per week and I didn't see her husband so it appeared to me that he didn't work here". Or whatever. You probably know all of this but its just a warning b/c I would hate for you to get sued by her (she woulld LOVE to go there!) and while she would likely never win, it could cost you alot of time, money, and headache.
As for the baord, if you ask them I am sure they will tell you NOT to go to the press. Any board in their right mind would do that b/c then they have no control over what you say. Also, I don't think I would trust that reporter b/c the articles I ahve sen from hr thus far seembiased (she just tells things from the ex-boss's perspective). I would go with teh written statment - but yes, they will be pissed! What I WOULD do is report her and the husband to the food stamp people!!! THat is MORE tax money being stolen! And he must not have been paid under the table completely if the baord has some record of it.
Having had some experience with this, I think the current board should stay. I understand your concerns BUT, they now know what could happen, they will be VERY cynical of anyone in the future, they will provide TONS of oversight, and they have more to lose than anyone if this were to happen again! A new board would likely be whipped around like this one was. AND, in their defense, it does take MONTHS to figure out the ins and outs of a non-profit, and it is not customary for baords to get detailed financial reports (the board reports are standard), nor is it common for them to come around. In fact, it is inappropriate in many situations for them to come around because their role is policy, not micro-managing the day-to-day activities of the organization. BUT what hey should have done, and will likely do now, is make sure there are policies and prociedures in place to prevent this in the future. IE create a policy that says board signature is required for checks over $1,000, that no two family members can work there, that the ED can sign checks, but none to herself, that the ED may not open any new accounts without baord approvla. Then they should have reviewed the bank statemtns on a monthly or quarterly basis. There are other things they could have done. BUT, if the WHOLE board was new, they woudln't have known any of that or really even understood how the org worked. IT takes about a year for a new board member to feel they understand the situation enough to speak up - especially if their ED is deceiving them. It is an all aorund sucky situation. But, I do think your mom would be a good addition. Can they handle more board members or is there a max? Trust me, some of the board members will resign soon just to distance themselves from this giant headache!
That's true. I know several people from the new board resigned early on when they realized that it was something that involved work and responsibility, and wasn't just something they could bandy around at the country club ("Oh, why I'm on the board of directors of such-and-such non-profit.")
They will definitely have a lot of new procedures and oversight in place by the time they hire a new director, that's for sure!!
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