As a long time supporter of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), I was disheartened to receive this email about an hour ago:
You may see in the news today that our founder, Morris Dees, is no longer working at the SPLC.
Morris has made incredible contributions to the fight against racial injustice in our country.
But our work is about the cause, not the person. We’re committed to ensuring that our workplace embodies the values we espouse – truth, justice, equity, and inclusion.
When one of our own fails to meet those standards, no matter his or her role in the organization, we take it seriously and must take appropriate action.
Today, we have a wonderful staff, some 350 people in offices spanning five Southern states who are all dedicated to fighting every day for justice and equality. Right now, our work couldn’t be more critical.
The SPLC is in good hands for many years to come. Thank you for being part of our family.
Richard Cohen
President
The Southern Poverty Law Center has fired its millionaire co-founder Morris Dees, the nonprofit announced in a statement on Thursday. SPLC president Richard Cohen said, “Effective yesterday, Morris Dees’ employment at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) was terminated.”
I searched several sources for details about why he was fired but the civil rights organization so far has declined to provide specifics. A statement did indicate the organization would be bringing in an “outside organization” to evaluate “internal climate and workplace practices.” So that would lead me to believe it was some kind of egregious workplace harassment incident or series of incidents that led to his being forced out.
Along with his law partner, Joseph J. Levin Jr., Dees founded the SPLC in 1971.
This from Wikipedia:
Dees was one of the principal architects of an innovative strategy that entailed using litigation through civil lawsuits in order to secure a court judgment for monetary damages against an organization for a wrongful act. The courts seized organization assets (money, land, buildings, other property) in order to gain payment of the judgment.
SPLC lawyers have used this legal strategy to hold different factions of the Ku Klux Klan accountable for the actions of their members. In 1981, Dees successfully sued the United Klans of America and won a $7 million judgment for the mother of Michael Donald, an African American who had been lynched by UKA members in Alabama.[19][20] Payment of the judgment bankrupted the United Klans of America and resulted in its national headquarters being sold to help satisfy the judgment. All funds secured in this manner were paid to the family of the deceased.[citation needed]
A decade later, in 1991, Dees obtained a judgment of $12 million against Tom Metzger's White Aryan Resistance.[19] He was also instrumental in securing a $6.5 million judgment in 2001 against the Aryan Nations. Dees's most famous cases have involved landmark damage awards that have driven several prominent neo-Nazi groups into bankruptcy, effectively causing them to disband. They have sometimes re-organized under different names and different leaders.
In the last few years, SPCL has been tracking and publishing lists and maps of hate groups in America.