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A4 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 16 March 2019

High-profile firing adds to troubles for watchdog group

By JAY REEVES resulted in a multimillion- against racial injustice in
Associated Press dollar settlement and an our country" and added:
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) unusual public apology less "But our work is about the
— The high-profile firing of than a year ago. cause, not the person."
the co-founder of a liberal The Montgomery, Ala- Dees said his dismissal in-
group best known for moni- bama-based law center volved a personnel issue
toring hate organizations is announced Thursday it but would not elaborate.
only the latest trouble for had dismissed its 82-year- He also didn't criticize the
the nonprofit, which got old founder, Morris Dees. A organization he helped
its start handling civil rights statement from the group's found nearly 50 years ago.
cases in the Deep South. president, Richard Cohen, "I think the Southern Pov-
At least three lawsuits filed didn't specify the reason erty Law Center is a very
by U.S. conservatives are for Dees' dismissal but said fine group and I devoted
pending against the South- the organization must act nearly 50 years of my life to
ern Poverty Law Center when staff conduct doesn't it and I'm proud of its work,"
over its public labeling of meet its standards. Dees said.
In this Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011, file photo, Morris Dees with the groups it considers extrem- "The SPLC is deeply commit- Board members contacted
Southern Poverty Law Center, right, listens during a news confer- ist, and a separate claim ted to having a workplace by The Associated Press ei-
ence, at the Hinds County Courthouse in Jackson, Miss. by a British organization that reflects the values it ther declined comment or
Associated Press
espouses - truth, justice, eq- referred questions to the
uity and inclusion, and we law center.
believe the steps we have Dees' dismissal came nine
taken today reaffirm that months after the law cen-
commitment," Cohen said. ter agreed to a $3.4 million
The firing could be a blow settlement after wrongly la-
to the organization where beling a British organization
Dees gained fame dur- and its founder as extrem-
ing a career that included ists. The law center issued
winning multimillion-dollar statements saying it was
verdicts against the Ku wrong to include the Lon-
Klux Klan and the Aryan don-based Quilliam and
Nations. He is arguably its Maajid Nawaz in a "Field
best-known public face Guide to Anti-Muslim Ex-
with thousands of donors tremists."
who helped the organiza- Meanwhile, the law center
tion build assets totaling or its staffers face three sim-
$450 million. ilar lawsuits from conserva-
Kathy Laing, program man- tive groups.
ager of the Institute on Phi- Most recently, the founder
lanthropy at the University of a far-right men's group
of Richmond, said tax forms called the Proud Boys,
documenting the law cen- Gavin McInnes, sued the
ter's finances make it ap- Southern Poverty Law Cen-
pear "they have the finan- ter last month for labeling
cial ability to weather this the organization a hate
storm." group. The lawsuit con-
But, she added: "The dan- tends the designation is
gers come when the found- false and damaged Mc-
er has the relationships with Innes' career.
donors and funders." The lawsuits opened a new
In a message on the law front for the law center,
center's website, Cohen which has long been a tar-
praised Dees' "incredible get of the groups it moni-
contributions to the fight tors. q