The former interim director of the Pensacola Humane Society yesterday filed a counterclaim against PHS, its board president Gerald Adcox and treasurer Barbara Sawyer.
In the 53-page filing, Manda Moore-Joseph asserts that she engaged in protected activity under the Florida Whistleblower Act when she pointed out the alleged misappropriation of restricted donor funds and grants and the mismanagement by the board and its officers. She provides a narrative that appears to show how poorly the nonprofit was run and defends herself against personal attacks made in the media.
The court documents include 35 exhibits supporting her statements. Moore-Joseph is represented by Russell Van Sickle of Beggs & Lane.
In her general factual allegations, she lays out how she was hired as the developmental director, as well as the hiring of Jan Castillo as executive director and the departure of Castillo’s predecessors, Dawn Novy and Jennifer Bitner, in April 2021.
Moore-Joseph gives her timeline on how a Lexus RX350 – that was donated with the restriction that it wouldn’t be sold – was sold by Adcox after storing it on his car lot. She alleges the board ignored its conflict of interest policy in the bylaws, and Adcox did not submit to PHS staff the paperwork on the sale of the Lexus or provide documentation that he sold the restricted Lexus for its market value.
She asserts the board voted to give Adcox an additional two-year term in November 2021 without a vote required by the bylaws to extend his term. Though the PHS’s fiscal year begins on Oct. 1, the board didn’t have a budget. However, the board voted to also give Castillo a raise. The budget was approved on Jan. 27, 2022.
She alleges that in March 2022, PHS bought from Adcox a used Mercedes Sprinter van, with an accident history, for a little over $61,000, though “the original MSRP of the van was about $41,000.” The board minutes don’t reflect the purchase or the conflict of interest. PHS didn’t receive the title from Adcox until July 2022.
Moore-Joseph writes the board gave Castillo another raise in July 2022 but failed to include it in the minutes.
She gives a detailed timeline of Castillo’s departure and her promotion to interim executive director and the unraveling of PHS that led to the memo from We the Organization:
11/9/22: Adcox and (board member Eloise) Lautier informed Moore-Joseph that they wanted Moore-Joseph to call a full staff meeting on Nov. 10, 2022, because Castillo resigned “in the middle of her firing.”
11/10/22: Adcox announced, without Moore- Joseph’s permission and without any discussion of payment to her for this additional role, that Moore-Joseph would be interim executive director.
11/14/22: Moore-Joseph writes she believes this is when the board obtained a line of credit from First Bank. The paperwork was not given to the staff.
11/16/22: Moore-Joseph presents a proposal for her to be paid for holding the dual role of her existing job, Director Development, and Executive Director at an executive committee meeting. She was told Castillo had sold securities without the Board’s knowledge. A full board meeting was called for 12/8/22 to discuss PHS’s financial situation.
11/28/22: She finally is allowed access to the bank account info – “What Moore-Joseph saw shocked her. When she sounded the alarm, Moore-Joseph was informed that the Board was going to be getting a loan.”
11/29/22: Moore-Joseph texted the Executive Committee, “Emergency: if our loan does not deposit by tomorrow we will not make payroll on Thursday. We had auto payments to credit cards set up prior by Jenn, and unfortunately, those went through.”
11/30/22: Moore-Joseph was summoned to meet with Adcox and Board member Hank Gonzalez in Gonzalez’s office at The First bank. She claims the men were immediately hostile. At the beginning of the meeting, Adcox said to her, “Manda Moore-Joseph Tom Dick Harry, however many husbands you have?” Gonzalez laughed at Adcox’s derisive and misogynistic comment to Moore-Joseph. The conversation went down from there, allegedly leading to behavior that Moore-Jospeh violated the National Labor Relations Act.
12/5/22: She notified the Executive Committee that she didn’t have the funds to cover payroll and that the restricted funds she had deposited had been used for operating expenses because of the auto-pay drafts set up.
12/8/22: Adcox volunteered to conduct a forensic audit in response to at least two Board members suggesting that a forensic audit be conducted. PHS voted to assign Moore-Joseph to serve as Interim Executive Director in addition to her duties as Director of Development. The board approved a $100,000 line of credit.
The We the Organization memo was sent out that night. Moore-Joseph was fired by the end of the month and the rest of the staff walked out.
This covers only about half of the counterclaim. For more, read 168609579 Moore-Joseph Counter Claim
Meanwhile animals suffer……..
Response to comments on Humane Society issue regarding “we are just volunteers”. I serve on 2 boards myself as a volunteer.
Yes serving as a volunteer on a board is a thankless job. However, when the heat comes on, you don’t throw the people that work or volunteer for the organization under the bus. You say, ok, we have issues, Let’s get everyone together, throw our egos aside, and let’s solve this. And you certainly don’t block years long volunteers from your public fb page. So immature. Now in all fairness, some of us eager to see the exhibits mentioned that have been claimed not to be published. Because there are 2 to 3 sides to every story. You just have to let the truth drip through the mesh. Also I like to screen shot everything I post publicly. Not necessary here, but elsewhere, yes.
Thanks for your review and comments re my response. I do agree that this matter is best resolved in court. There are only losers in a “trial by media”. I do appreciate open, fair and honest reporting.
Thank you.
George
George,
Inweekly is still waiting on an interview with Mr. Adcox. We have published PHS complaint and have asked for exhibits. They haven’t been emailed to us. If you have them, email them to info@inweekly.net
Both sides have made allegations and the issue will be decided in court.
Rick
This situation is getting very interesting. Now the same trio that seemingly extorted PAWS in Fort Walton Beach are duplicating that action now against PHS. Involved in this endeavor are Manda/Mandi/Amanda Moore, Tom MacLaughlin, and Russell VanSickle.
MacLaughlin and the PNJ continues to repeat Ms. Moore’s disproved allegations about the PHS and its officer and directors. MacLaughlin also engaged in dishonest reporting or withheld information, with the seeming approval off the PNJ, by not disclosing his involvement as a reporter about the PAWS case. If one reads the articles about each by MacLaughlin, they are almost identical in verbiage and tone. Interesting.
By the audit conducted by Saltmarsh, Ms. Moore is shown to be less than truthful. That report also details the thousands of dollars Ms. Moore paid herself without authorization.
What is the really interesting story in these two cases is WHO is this Manda/Mandi/Amanda Moore person? What is she? From information available from social media: It appears she comes here from California; she serves in or on a host of other nonprofit organizations and boards; and, she seems to have no employment other that the aforementioned nonprofits. With many of these nonprofits, she claims to be a director of some sort. Also, there is a lack of information about her work and personal life before coming to the Florida Gulf Coast. It is as if she did not exist before coming to the Florida Panhandle. She has also used various names throughout her time here. The information on social media seems to have been substantially modified or entirely deleted in the last few months.
Mr. Outzen has deemed Ms. Moore’s actions as newsworthy to some extent. So much so that he publishes her entire counterclaim and exhibits. However, he failed to publish PHS complaint and exhibits. Is Outzen supporting Ms. Moore and her team?
Having known Mr. Adcox for some time, I personally deem what Ms. Moore states and what is repeated by Mac Laughlin and VanSickle to be total fabrications. It has been shown that Ms. Moore is not truthful. Never, in my experience with or conversing with others about him, has Mr. Adcox ever acted in any manner as alleged by Ms. Moore or her team.
Will Mr. Outzen undertake the challenge of finding out who this Manda/Mandi/Amanda Moore really is?
Is this same scheme going to work in Escambia County? Stay tuned.
G adcox,
Please send us the exhibits – info@inweekly.net, and we will post you to this blog. For readers, here is the lawsuit filed by PHS board – link.
-Rick
Did not happen at all, ridiculous from a woman who has been terminated from the last three jobs, and claims same thing exactly happened again at phs , we were polite at all times to her in the meeting she was in. And even encouraged her to apply for permanent director job, not happy we were going to advertise for best candidate though. We also discussed that she would not receive a 110 percent raise even if she was selected by the committee we did not sit on, that’s all that occurred .Sorry this is happening to an all volunteer unpaid board who cares greatly about our animals . And maybe publish the exhibits to our complaint, Mr Outzen.
Most importantly, “Krewe” needs a home. https://pensacolahumane.org/adoptable-animals/ He’s every bit as cute as my dog “Little Hugo” was when my neighbor Bart first brought him home years ago weighing 14 pounds. A few days before Bart died two years ago, he let us adopt Little Hugo (now age 7) and one of his three cats “Boo Boo.” They live with our newest cat “Ollie Clementine” adopted in 2022 from the shelter. There are three dogs like Krewe in our neighborhood who get walked at Eastgate Park. I’ve had seven dogs. This “Lab Mix” type of dog makes a great and very loving companion. Very smart and easy to train but energetic. Little Hugo weighs 45 pounds so not too big. This type of dog is as sweet as they look.
So I’ve been following this story since December because my wife has poured her heart and soul into this organization for 6 years. I always gave both sides the benefit of the doubt.
However if the accusations of making fun of one’s name and insulating they have been married x times is true, that is disgusting . And if true it blows my mind, and helps me understand this disaster. He should resign immediately. Anyone I know, don’t buy a vehicle from this guy till he issues a statement that clarifies this.