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