I first met Kat Sweeney through the Changing Work community, a wonderful group based on improving and elevating the current atrocious state of work. She mentioned that she has a very intense work experience to share, and what she went through is perfect for this book – showing that dysfunction exists in so many different types of organizations.
The Director From Hell
“Kat, please tell me all about what you experienced,” I said.
“I was working in the nonprofit world in Rochester, New York,” Kat said. “Specifically at my city’s local and largest LGBTQIA+ center, the Out Alliance. At first I volunteered, and then I started working there.
“I had been working there for several years and loved my job. Then they fired the fantastic Executive Director and brought in a new Director. When the outgoing Director was walked out, the accountant resigned on the spot, followed by several others shortly after. Getting rid of such a strong leader didn’t make sense.
“The new Director turned out to be a literal tyrant. Some believe he got the job because he was friends with someone on the Board. This was March of 2020. He was sexist, racist, and every ‘ist’ you can think of. He played people against each other.
“Some people just get power hungry. He wasn’t qualified for his job, so he tried to make others seem unqualified.”
“When it comes to toxic workplaces, one bully can ruin the whole environment,” I said.
“Absolutely,” Kat said. “There were ten of us on the staff. Eight of us got called together by the magazine editor, regarding the Director’s absurd behavior and what he was doing with the nonprofit’s money. Each person thought it was just me, but we realized we were all experiencing the same thing.The editor, who was second in charge, encouraged the eight of us to file whistleblower complaints in May of 2020, while we were all working remotely.
“The Board members received the complaints, stated that they would conduct an investigation, and placed the Director on leave. Sometime very shortly after the Executive Director was placed on leave, we were told he was going to be fired, but he had resigned before the Board had actually done the firing. When we first filed the whistleblower complaint, we later found out that the Board member who received the complaint never shared it with the entire board – she shared it only with the executive committee, which was the president, vice president, treasurer, and possibly one other member. There were at least five other board members who were not initially informed. This unusually narrow circle raised serious questions and felt very shady. The editor was let go the same day all the whistleblowers were let go, shortly after we filed the complaints, putting the integrity of the Board into question. She should have been Interim Executive Director.
“Additionally, the person we submitted the complaint to was a friend of the Executive Director. To complicate matters further, the treasurer at the time worked at the bank where we handled our finances, and there were suspicious financial activities – charges, reimbursements, and money transfers – that should never have been approved.”
Unexpectedly Laid Off
“This takes us to June 8th of 2020,” Kat continued. “They called the staff and the Board to a meeting. “Effective tomorrow, you’re all being let go,’ they said. ‘Unless you can come up with a bunch of money.’
“They blamed the pandemic for firing us all, claiming they had to close down. We assert that they didn’t have to. Only the whistleblowers lost their jobs first. We were targeted. The two others who did not file whistleblower complaints stayed on with the organization for at least an additional couple of weeks.
“To add insult to injury, they kept calling us after we were fired because they didn’t know the alarm systems or any of the codes. The whole thing was absurd.
“The Executive Director had caused us enormous hardship, severe anxiety, and deeply hurt both our professional and personal lives. Part of my disability is extreme anxiety and I was in pain. The Director told my coworkers that he was intentionally doing things to trigger my anxiety. To go through that and suddenly be laid off only made things worse. Because of him, it went from a job I loved to a hellscape.
“The Director also coerced money out of our youngest employee and gave it to the Board, claiming it was a loan from him. He got her to pay by saying her fellow coworkers wouldn’t be paid if she didn’t. After the Board investigated, they did repay the $10,000 – she even caught him on tape discussing it. However, they never looked into anything else, despite numerous assurance that they would be. The stolen money turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg.
“The person who is currently the President of the Board posted a letter on Facebook at the time we were fired supporting us, acknowledging how we were all treated horribly. He was not on the Board at the time, but saw how dysfunctional all of this was. He was part of the United Way Leadership Team and with his lead, their entire team posted a letter of support.”
Filing a Lawsuit
“Six of us got together and decided to file a lawsuit, as we were not only bullied and harassed by the Director, but had severe negative effects in our lives. Two dropped out, as they couldn’t handle the challenges of being in a lawsuit and how it dragged on. That left four of us.
“The lawsuit originally had forty-seven unjust causes of action, including unjust firing and all sorts of labor violations. This Director broke the law in many ways and consistently went very far over all of our boundaries. The nonprofit offered $10,000 to us four in total, so $2,500 payable over four years, minus lawyer fees. Along with their offer came the condition that we would not be allowed to talk about it in the community.”
“That’s ridiculous, and I’m so sorry you went through all this,” I said. “$2,500 over four years, after what you experienced, is pathetic.”
“Exactly,” Kat said. “And no way was I going to stop sharing my experiences with the community. Despite our good-faith efforts to settle, the Defense countered with an unreasonable offer. Although both sides initially agreed to court-ordered mediation, they later refused to engage, instead pushing for an aggressive litigation schedule – further signaling their fear of transparency and disregard for fair resolution. The Defense attorney flat-out refused to make this process balanced.
Zero Empathy or Understanding From the Judge
“The lawyer for us four is working on contingency, getting paid if we win,” Kat said. “The problem is that the organization didn’t have the type of insurance they needed for a situation like this: professional liability insurance. Now our attorney is going to drop us because he doesn’t see a payday at the end. He’s demanding a big retainer that we simply can’t afford.
“We got in front of the judge, doing everything we possibly could to hold the Executive Director accountable. We weren’t even able to speak, as our lawyers were required to speak for us. The judge, scrunching her face and furrowing her brow, looking at us with cold, judgmental eyes, said, ‘What do you want to do, bankrupt them?’ This judge was very nasty.
“In the matter of the law, the company’s financial state is not our problem. We were harassed, degraded, and marginalized. The judge should be focused on justice and accountability.”
“I wholeheartedly agree,” I said. “It’s about what’s right. That judge was despicable.”
“Yes,” Kat said. “This whole experience was a giant re-traumatization over and over again. Many in the community make it harder for us too. While some people are on our side, others think that we’re petulant children who need to let it go.”
“This hurts to hear,” I said. “And is so wrong, on so many levels.”
“Thank you,” Kat said.
The Director Is the Root Cause
“My understanding is that this horrible Director is the root cause of everything,” I said.
“Yes,” Kat said. “I worked there for eight years. The Executive Director was only there for approximately twenty-two months. In one year, there was nearly a full turnover in staff because he was such a bad leader and monster of a person. I was the lone survivor. How did the Board not take note of all this? There was the Board that was there while this was happening, and there’s a new Board now. The current Board is not the one that harmed us, and some don’t have any idea what happened. But some do – like the current president who supported us by posting a public letter.
“The Director hasn’t been held accountable legally. With that said, he has been held somewhat accountable in the community and there are certain places he’s no longer welcome.”
“Being around someone like that all day is not only demoralizing,” I said. “It’s unbearable. It’s so incredibly painful to have to deal with someone like that. Did the original Board get rid of you because of the legal situation, or because of the organization’s bad finances?”
“Both,” Kat said. “They were helpful at first, but then they turned on us. We believe they used the pandemic and financial issues as convenient excuses to get rid of us and avoid the legal situation. This is one of the ways we see things differently.”
The Out Alliance Is Going to Win
“The organization is going to win now because of the resources they have,” Kat said. “We no longer have the money to pay for lawyers, and the Out Alliance has pro bono attorneys. They’ve asked the judge to force us to hurry up. It’s only a matter of time before our lawyer withdraws, and then the case will be dismissed with prejudice, meaning we can’t retry it later. You can’t be poor and win in this system.
“Meanwhile, the organization continues to put on a front. They shared in their 2024 wrap-up that they’re trying to settle the lawsuit, which was so disingenuous. I commented publicly on their release that the way they represented the situation wasn’t true.
“The new Board, while slightly compassionate at times, is doing whatever their lawyer tells them to do. The organization doesn’t have a lot of money.”
The Organization Should Be Championing Love, Not Dysfunction
“This was an LBTQIA+ Center that we worked for,” Kat said. “It should represent love and compassion. Most of us who worked here are queer and we joined because we align with the mission. All we ever wanted to do is create safe spaces for people in this community. The moral of the story is that there is no justice.
“It’s worth noting that all of us involved in this lawsuit have gone on to do some pretty amazing things. We’re all doing better. In my experience, I’ve found it to be so traumatizing to work for someone else, so I’ve found freedom in being my own boss.
“In a recent Facebook post I made about doing the interview for this book, I said, There may not be justice. But in sharing my story and helping someone else, there is healing.”
Kat Sweeney is an ADHD coach, Master Certified Life Coach, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging advocate.
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