The former head of the Akron Urban League is suing for wrongful termination and asking for twice the severance pay spelled out in his contract.
Fred Wright, past president and CEO of the center on Vernon Odom Boulevard, filed a lawsuit earlier this month alleging that, in failing to renew his contract, the organization’s board of directors gave no just cause for letting him go.
In the lawsuit, Wright’s attorney, Edward Gilbert, considered the contract non-renewal a “blatant and intentional breach” of Wright’s employment contract.
Gilbert and Larry Chadwick, chairman of the board and acting CEO as the agency searches for new leadership, were not immediately available to comment on the lawsuit, filed Friday in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas.
The contract, Gilbert is arguing, was amended in 2011 to provide Wright three months of continuing pay should he be “terminated without cause.” The lawsuit alleges Wright has resorted to hiring legal counsel to have the matter settled by an arbitrator, but the Urban League has blocked the alternative resolution process.
Now, Gilbert is asking for the court to force the Urban League to pay six months of Wright’s salary. In addition, Wright is asking for more than $25,000, on multiple counts, to cover legal costs and to punish the agency for acting in “bad faith.”
Wright, who started at the Urban League in May 2011, earned $68,605 that year while the previous CEO, Bernett Williams, also made about $30,000 in 2011. The organization’s annual tax filings show Wright has since been paid roughly $120,000 a year ($100,000 base salary plus reimbursement for travel and other expenses).
Chadwick told the Beacon Journal in October, when the board of directors decided not to renew Wright’s contract, that he’s looking for “new direction” at the agency, which advocates mostly for African-Americans in Summit County.
“We’re looking for someone with a different skills set, leadership skills and someone who connects with the funders and the community,” Chadwick said.
The group’s major sponsors, Akron and Summit County, recently renewed their financial backing of new and existing bank loans that fund the agency’s service and advocacy programs.
The organization’s endowment fund peaked around $390,000 before Wright took over and had shrunk slightly by 2013, the most recent year tax information is readily available.
Overall revenue slumped by more than $700,000 between 2012 and 2013, a 24 percent reduction in support.
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @DougLivingstonABJ.