Former YWCA executive director Adirenne Witherspoon said back in November that she would respond to financial problems during her tenure “at the right time, in the right venue and under the right circumstances.”
The right time was Wednesday; the right venue was Guilford County Superior Court. As for the circumstances:
Witherspoon’s lawsuit also alleges defamation, civil conspiracy and infliction of emotional distress. It also charges the defendants with misusing state grant money.
The lawsuit says Witherspoon discovered that the association owed the Guilford County Schools nearly $11,000 for transportation for an after-school program the YWCA operated. The money came from a three-year, $500,000 juvenile justice and delinquency prevention grant.
The lawsuit charges that the YWCA told the state that the school system had been paid when “in truth and in fact the funds were used for other purposes.”
The lawsuit did not say how the money was spent or when the incident happened. But it does say that when Witherspoon informed the board she was told to disregard the matter and find money to pay the school system elsewhere.
I’m not sure what the deal is here, but unfortunately it’s not hard to imagine a nonprofit misusing grant funds.
