|
FROM THE MCMINNVILLE PAPER
Suit targets Del Smith, Evergreen
Published: February 24, 2005
By DAVID BATES
Of the News-Register
Two years after he was fired, William Schaub, former director of the Evergreen Aviation Museum, has followed through on his vow to sue his former employer and Evergreen founder Del Smith.
He's done so in Yamhill County Circuit Court, in a 16-page complaint that seeks $1.7 million in damages.
Schaub was fired in November 2002 after disagreements with Smith, the museum's founder and chief patron, about financial affairs and the museum's non-profit status. Although the firing was done quietly, with no announcement by Evergreen officials, the charges against Smith became public when a letter from Schaub to his former boss was obtained first by The Oregonian and later by the News-Register.
In his letter, the one-time aide to U.S. Sen. Mark Hatfield accused Smith of "self-dealing" in his handling of museum affairs. In his lawsuit, he goes a step further.
Schaub maintains he was wrongfully terminated because he complained privately that his employer was violating not only museum bylaws, but state and federal laws as well. In addition to the bylaws, he cites Internal Revenue Service regulations, sections of the federal code and Oregon statutes.
No comment could be obtained from Evergreen this morning. When Schaub's allegations surfaced in early 2003, however, an Evergreen attorney called them "one made-up story after another" containing "not a shred of truth."
McMinnville-based Evergreen International Aviation, named as one of the defendants in the lawsuit, is one of the nation's largest air-freight operations. It was founded by Smith, a wealthy aviation entrepreneur who also was the Oregon Republican Party's most generous financial backer in 2004.
Smith founded the museum in 2000 on land near Evergreen's headquarters. The centerpiece is Howard Hughes' famous wooden giant, the Spruce Goose, which is featured prominently in "The Aviator," frontrunner for a best-picture Oscar this year.
Schaub was hired in September of 2000. The lawsuit characterizes his employment agreement with Smith and Evergreen as "partly written, partly oral and partly implied," but governed by museum bylaws.
"Smith specifically represented and promised to Schaub that the position was a 'lifetime commitment' and made direct and indirect assurances to Schaub that he would not be terminated absent good cause," the lawsuit maintains.
Schaub says he soon began developing concerns about "conflicts of interest" and "self-dealing" between Smith in his capacities as museum chairman and aviation company chairman.
He contends, for example, that $600,000 in museum funds were "withdrawn" by Evergreen International Aviation for expenses that were not the museum's responsibility. Schaub says he complained in an internal September 2001 memo "that earnings of the museum were being used for the benefit of Evergreen International Aviation, and Smith personally."
"Schaub pointed out that the manner in which museum accounts were being utilized by Evergreen International Aviation not only jeopardized the non-profit status of the museum, but could result in serious economic, political and social repercussions to the museum and Smith," the lawsuit contends.
Previously, an attorney for Schaub alleged the museum was improperly paying thousands of dollars to Evergreen, Smith and Smith's family. In his letter from early 2003, Schaub alleged that profits from the museum's ice cream parlor were being funneled to Smith relatives, and that the museum staff was being pressed into service in connection with Smith's private aircraft collection.
The lawsuit also reiterates Schaub's account, with some previously undisclosed detail, regarding a dispute over whether the Spruce Goose's home should be a public charity or a private foundation.
Early in 2003, the museum got IRS certification as a public charity. That accomplished what Schaub termed a "major goal," because it better positioned the museum to seek grant money.
But in the fall of that year, a woman representing herself as a museum officer contacted the IRS and directed the agency to withdraw the museum's public status, Schaub said. Someone - he did not identify her initially - was apparently trying to get the museum set up as a private foundation, he concluded.
In the lawsuit, Schaub identifies the woman as Evergreen International Aviation attorney Gwenna Wootress, whom he alleges was acting "at the behest of Smith," "without the authority or a vote of the Museum Board of Trustees," and without his own knowledge as museum director. Schaub said that when he contacted the IRS to overrule Wootress, he was called on the carpet by one of Evergreen's New York attorneys. Schaub said he refused to withdraw the museum's public charity status because such a change had not gone through its legally constituted governing board.
That is apparently what led to Schaub's firing, described this way in the legal documents:
On the day of his termination - Nov. 6, 2003 - Schaub was called to Smith's offices prior to a scheduled meeting of the museum board.
In attendance were Evergreen executives Tim Wahlberg and John Irwin, along with three attorneys from New York. Smith himself was not present.
Schaub was told he was being fired, but if he agreed to sign a "mutual release," Smith and the museum would agree to not sue him. When Schaub refused to sign, he was told his dismissal would be presented to the board at the meeting and he would not be allowed to attend.
He then asked to see Smith. That request also was denied.
Wahlberg allegedly told the museum staff Schaub "had done something terrible" and therefore could no longer be connected with the museum.
At the Nov. 6 board meeting, the lawsuit states, each member was presented with "a large file containing, among other things, photocopied material of newspaper articles and legal documents related to legal problems experienced by two of Schaub's previous employers." The board was told by an attorney that Schaub had misrepresented and/or failed to disclose that information prior to his hiring.
In the legal action, Schaub is alleging breach of contract, breach of good faith and fair dealing, wrongful discharge, and defamation.
NOTE THAT HE WAS FIRED BY EVERGREEN AVIATION VPS AND LAWYERS NOT ANYONE ON THE MUSEUM BOARD!
_________________
Don't touch my junk!!
|
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
