Theresa Sanders, the former president and CEO of the Urban League of Long Island (ULLI) whose dismissal was upheld in court last week, is appealing the decision. Sanders had been with the Plainview, New York-based organization, which is an affiliate of the National Urban League (NUL), for more than 30 years before her tenure was challenged this past summer.
The enjoinder order stems from a mid-August complaint filed by representatives of the ULLI. In that complaint, Sanders was alleged to have misappropriated funds from the organization, was supposedly retaining organization assets inappropriately and was continuing to represent herself as leading the organization despite being terminated from her position on August 9.
In Sanders’ September 7 appeal, she claimed her dismissal was inappropriate, that she had not received her full contracted compensation and that she sought at least $250,000 in compensation and health and retirement benefits. Sanders also sought to have the ULLI post a $107,500 undertaking which would cover her lost wages and attorney fees.
A hearing has been set for September 20. Christopher Murray, Sanders’ attorney, did not return a request for comment at deadline.
According to the initial complaint, Sanders was terminated after an independent auditor’s report revealed several instances of misappropriated ULLI funds. But despite an August 9 termination letter, on August 10, Sanders allegedly invited ULLI membership to a “Special Membership Meeting” that had not been authorized by the ULLI.
Sanders had also claimed that Su Chen, chair of ULLI’s Board of Directors, had been voted out of office by a Board of Directors meeting held on July 17, despite that meeting not being conducted in accordance with ULLI bylaws, according to the initial complaint. Chen had been appointed Chair in mid-April, and shortly after began questioning financial practices within ULLI.
On June 7, ULLI received notice from the NUL placing the ULLI on probationary status for reasons that included accounting procedures irregularities. The notice required the forensic audit that revealed Sanders’ alleged misappropriation.
On July 10, before the auditor’s report was issued, ULLI board member and Treasurer Wayne Thompson called for a general board meeting to be held on July 17. Chen informed those indicating their availability for Thompson’s meeting that there had not been a board meeting previously scheduled for that date, and that the procedure for a board meeting to be called by anyone other than the chair had not been followed.
Despite this, the meeting was held, and a day later Chen received notice on ULLI letterhead that seemed to call for Chen’s resignation, according to the complaint.
On July 19 Chen, who did not resign, attended a previously scheduled meeting with representatives from the NUL, according to the complaint. The next day, NUL leaders indicated any actions taken at the July 17 meeting should be viewed as null and indicating its support for Chen’s leadership of the ULLI.
The independent auditor’s report was released at the end of July. It cited several irregularities, including Sanders being the only person initiating transactions on behalf of ULLI, Sanders being the only authorized signor on ULLI’s bank accounts and Sanders having debit carts linked with ULLI bank accounts that had been used for frequent purchases and ATM withdrawals. Additionally, the auditors questioned three PayPal accounts which were used for ULLI operational, and to which Sanders had sole access.
The report also cited several instances of expenses that indicated potential misappropriation of ULLI funds, including local dining, grocery store and vehicle, Uber and other transportation charges, out-of-town travel expenses, as well as distributions to and through to Amazon, Staples, phone service providers, ATMs, family members, legal expenses and others. Additionally, ULLI was found not to have appropriately filed federal and state payroll tax returns between 2009 and 2020, which resulted in liens being filed against ULLI.
Following the report, Thompson and two other board members resigned, and at an August 7 emergency board meeting Saunders was terminated from her position with ULLI, according to the complaint. A fourth board member resigned afterward. As of September 12, the page indicating board membership on ULLI’s website contains the message “This page doesn’t seem to exist.”
In an August 22 response, Sanders claimed that actions taken against her were “allegedly made on behalf of the ULLI, but actually initiated by Su Chen,” whom, Sanders claimed, had been removed on July 17. Sanders also claimed that during the years leading up to summer 2023 the ULLI “went through financial difficulties and I had been paid less than my agreed upon salary and benefits. The shortfall is over $100,000.”
Sanders also claimed that shortly after Chen was named board chair her “relationship with Su Chen soon deteriorated by her making demands and threats to me and ULLI’s staff. Ms. Chen’s behavior was nothing less than erratic.” Sanders also claimed that in April, shortly after Chen’s election to the board, “two Board members resigned due to Su Chen’s leadership tactics” and that “Chen then proceeded to target and attempt remove [sic] any member of the Board that challenged her leadership.”
Sanders also claimed in her complaint that all of Chen’s actions, including sanctioning the audit, demanding five years of documentation and requiring Sanders to surrender debit cards were done without board authorization.
“It is the practice of my firm not to comment on pending litigation,” Andrew K. Preston, who is representing the ULLI, told The NonProfit Times.
