AYESHA CURRY'S TWITTER RANT BACKLASH IS RACIST (REMEMBER TIPPER GORE?)

AYESHA CURRY'S TWITTER RANT BACKLASH IS RACIST (REMEMBER TIPPER GORE?)

IGNORE STEPHEN A. SMITH'S SEXIST, MISOGYNIST REMARKS.

IN AMERICA FREE SPEECH ISN'T COLORBLIND.

DOES ANYONE REMEMBER TIPPER GORE'S CENSORSHIP PR STUNT?

IS IT POSSIBLE AYESHA CURRY'S ANTI-NBA TWEETS COULD BE AN INTENTIONAL PR STUNT?

Sources: ESPN, Huffpost, Twitter, NBA, Rollingstone, Oprah, Village Voice, Undefeated, YouTube

Ayesha Curry, wife of NBA Superstar Stephen Curry is being slammed for her recent tweets about the NBA being rigged.

Many people have previously expressed this same sentiment about the NBA Play-offs, so why is Ayesha being rebuked?

Is it due to the fact that her husband Stepen is currently employed by the NBA or does RACISM play a factor in this backlash against Ayesha?

And why is Sports Commentator Stephen A. Smith (a BLACK Man) comparing Ayesha Curry to Lebron James' wife Savannah?

Both Women are BLACK, however that is where the similarity stops.

Since the husbands of Ayesha Curry and Savannah James will play for rival teams during the 2016 Play-Off games, is it possible Ayesha is strategically posting negative NBA Twitter rants as a PR stunt?

Has the Mainstream Media forgotten about TIPPER GORE, former wife of AL GORE?

When her husband was still employed as Vice-President in the Clinton administration, TIPPER GORE launched a national campaign to shut up and Censor the music of BLACK Rappers.

Yet......

No one, not even the NAACP told TIPPER GORE to "Shut up and stay in her place".

TIPPER GORE used her fake "Family Values" Hip Hop Music Censorship campaign to bring attention to HERSELF but no one said a word.

Not even Bill and Hillary Clinton!

******* Stephen A. Smith Essentially Tells Ayesha Curry To Shut Her Mouth And Know Her Place

“You are not just Ayesha Curry. You are Steph Curry’s wife.”

What many people thought would be a night of champagne celebrations for the Curry family instead turned out rather badly for them on Thursday night.

Stephen continued to lack MVP-level sharpness in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, fouling out and then getting ejected for throwing his mouthpiece at some rich kid in a loss that pushed the series to seven games. But most of the conversation following the game centered around his wife, who hopped on Twitter to accuse the Cavs of holding up the Warriors’ family bus and the NBA of rigging the Finals for money. (She quickly deleted the latter tweet.)

TWITTER/@AYESHACURRY

Ayesha joins the NBA conspiracy theorist community.

Steph defended his wife after the game, saying, “Everybody says stuff where you get caught in the moment ... I don’t fault her from showing some emotion on Twitter.” But on ESPN’s Friday morning episode of “First Take,” “analysts” Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless completely faulted Ayesha for showing emotion.

Smith spoke at length (as seen in the above video), in fact, about how NBA wives should and should not act. He focused the conversation around wives of the NBA Finals’ two rival stars: LeBron James and Steph. Smith thinks that Ayesha, a relative rookie when it comes to the superstar NBA lifestyle, should be quiet and act more like LeBron’s wife Savannah Brinson, a 13-year veteran of the NBA family. 

“[Brinson] never brings attention to herself. She never tweets and calls out the lying. Nobody, nobody is more scrutinized than her husband, but yet she thinks about how she represents him,” Smith said.  

And there’s nothing wrong or right about that! It’s Savannah’s choice to stay low and work on a small business. It’s also Ayesha’s choice to parlay her popularity as a family-first social media presence into a Food Network show. They’re different women who are making their own mark, if Smith couldn’t tell.

But he can’t, because his sexism won’t allow him to recognize Ayesha as an independent person from her husband. “You are not just Ayesha Curry. You are Steph Curry’s wife,” he shockingly said (and Bayless agreed!). Apparently, once a woman marries an NBA player, they no longer have their own identity. They’re merely ornamental.  

Smith claims that because “everybody veers towards Steph Curry,” we’re ignoring Ayesha’s tweets. Quite the contrary, as much has been made of her tweets Thursday morning. 

“If this were Savannah acting like this, do you know how much heat LeBron James may have taken?” Smith continued to argue. 

Savannah “acting like this” may indeed cause some heat for LeBron. Yet in the spectrum of overly critical LeBron stories, Smith’s “acting like this” hypothetical would likely amount to nothing. Would LeBron and Savannah suffer if she started defending LeBron’s flopping? No. Will Ayesha and Steph suffer because of a few tweets? No. When you’re Steph Curry or LeBron James, two of the biggest athletes alive, it’ll take a lot more than heated tweets to “hurt yourself or your husband or your family in any way,” as Smith said.

Ayesha evidently watched Smith’s diatribe, and responded on Twitter immediately: 

Seeing the tweet, Smith responded live on “First Take” and continued to explain why she was out of line.

“It is not me. It is you,” he said.

No it isn’t, Steven. No it isn’t. 

DONALD TRUMP & BILL CLINTON FIGHT FOR WOMEN VOTERS (2016 BEEFS)

DONALD TRUMP & BILL CLINTON FIGHT FOR WOMEN VOTERS (2016 BEEFS):

DONALD'S FIRST TERM OR BILL CLINTON'S THIRD TERM?

Donald Trump & Bill Clinton are beefing to attract 2016 Women voters.

Donald claims Bill is a Pedophile (Monica Lewinsky).

Bill claims Donald doesn't care about Women's issues (Planned Parenthood).

So who wins this Gender War to attract Women voters?

Do Women voters care about Donald Trump serving his first term in the Oval Office?

Or.........

Do Women voters care more about Bill Clinton serving a Third term in the Oval Office?

Who wants a 2016 Coronation?

I most certainly don't!

I want to experience a REAL Presidential election just like in 2008.

The fireworks are beginning to heat up and I'm loving it!

Stay tuned.

~ Ex-Ally Donald Trump Now Heaps Scorn on Bill Clinton

For years, President Bill Clinton was the best friend Donald J. Trump always hoped to have.

When scandal engulfed Mr. Clinton’s White House, Mr. Trump leapt to the president’s defense. “He’s probably got the toughest skin I’ve ever seen, and I think he’s a terrific guy,” Mr. Trump told CNN.

Then there were Mr. Trump’s pitches to the former president to settle in a gilded Trump building in Manhattan when he and Hillary Clinton left the White House. They moved to Westchester instead. 

His overtures for them to vacation at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., were also rebuffed. The Clintons preferred the Dominican Republic.

When Mr. Clinton had trouble joining a conservative Westchester golf club, Mr. Trump boasted that he welcomed the former president to a newly built Trump National Golf Club, a five-minute drive from the Clintons’ Chappaqua, N.Y., home.

“He’s a great gentleman, a good golfer and a wonderful guy,” the real estate developer said of Mr. Clinton, who, in reality, is a so-so golfer known for taking mulligans.

In the past week, any semblance of a friendship between Mr. Trump and Bill Clinton came to an ugly end as the former president and his wife’s presidential campaign found themselves in a muddy battle over sexism with the Republican candidate who has upended this election cycle with his insults and attacks.

“If Hillary thinks she can unleash her husband, with his terrible record of women abuse, while playing the women’s card on me, she’s wrong!” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday.

The criticism of Mr. Clinton’s personal life comes as Mrs. Clinton is increasingly relying on the former president, mentioning him in almost every speech as she praises his economic record.

But Mr. Trump’s attacks on him are now rippling through the race, with other candidates and even a prominent newspaper columnist suggesting that Mr. Clinton’s sexual history is fair game.

“This works for Trump because it reinforces what his most ardent supporters believe to be his greatest strength,” said Kevin Madden, a Republican communications strategist. “He will say things that no one else will say but that need to be said.”

On Monday, Mr. Clinton will hold two organizing events for Mrs. Clinton in New Hampshire — his first solo outing on the campaign trail in a state where he remains widely popular and where polls show Mrs. Clinton slightly trailing Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Mr. Trump’s turn against the former president started last week when Mrs. Clinton, in response to Mr. Trump’s use of a crude sexual reference to describe her loss to Barack Obama in 2008, accused him of having a “penchant for sexism.”

On Saturday, Mr. Trump said on Twitter: “Hillary Clinton has announced that she is letting her husband out to campaign but HE’S DEMONSTRATED A PENCHANT FOR SEXISM, so inappropriate!”

He went further on Tuesday, saying that in Mr. Clinton’s political career, “there were certainly a lot of abuse of women, and you look at whether it’s Monica Lewinsky or Paula Jones or many of them.”

In response to Mr. Trump’s latest onslaught, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign said in a statement that “Hillary Clinton won’t be bullied” or “distracted by the slings he throws at her and former President Clinton.” A spokesman for Mr. Clinton declined to comment.

Mr. Trump’s tactics could backfire. Mrs. Clinton had some of her highest approval ratings ever after revelations that Mr. Clinton had a relationship with Ms. Lewinsky, a 22-year-old White House intern.

This month at a New Hampshire town hall, a young woman asked Mrs. Clinton about several women who alleged they were sexually harassed by Mr. Clinton.

“You say that all rape victims should be believed,” the woman said. “Should we believe them as well?”

Mrs. Clinton did not hesitate. “Well, I would say that everybody should be believed at first until they are disbelieved based on evidence,” she said, with an awkward smile, as the crowd applauded.

Still, the issue seems to be echoing, at least among her detractors. 

Other Republican candidates, including Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson, have followed Mr. Trump’s lead, saying Mr. Clinton’s history is a legitimate criticism, though Mrs. Fiorina said she doubted voters would care. Mr. Clinton, after all, is 69 years old, and the Lewinsky scandal happened nearly two decades ago.

The Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus has been critical of Mr. Trump but on Tuesday wrote that she agreed with him that Mr. Clinton’s past is relevant to his wife’s campaign. “Trump has smeared women because of their looks,” she wrote. “Clinton has preyed on them.”

Mr. Trump has been the most direct in his attacks on Mr. Clinton, but Republicans, concerned about the party’s declining appeal to women, have long considered using the former president’s personal life and Mrs. Clinton’s response to the women who alleged extramarital affairs.

Stuart Stevens, a Republican operative and Mitt Romney’s chief strategist in his 2012 presidential campaign, said the way the Clinton operation disparaged women who complained about the president’s behavior in the 1990s “would be all but disqualifying in a Democratic primary” nowadays.

During Mr. Clinton’s 1992 campaign, Betsey Wright, a close aide, coined the term “bimbo eruptions” in describing rumors of extramarital affairs involving the candidate.

According to White House-era documents from Diane D. Blair, a close friend of Mrs. Clinton’s who died in 2000, the first lady had referred to Ms. Lewinsky as “a narcissistic loony toon.”

Until last week, Mr. Trump had hardly uttered a negative word about Mr. Clinton. In 1999, he said the president had been treated unfairly for his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky. His criticism, according to an interview with The New York Times at the time, was the president’s choice of paramour: “It was Monica! I mean, terrible choice.”

Mr. Trump has been a donor to the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation and to Mrs. Clinton’s Senate campaign.

While a senator from New York, Mrs. Clinton and her husband attended Mr. Trump’s 2005 wedding to his third wife, the Slovenian model Melania Knauss, held in a $42 million ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago estate decorated to resemble Versailles. (Mr. and Mrs. Trump were not invited to Chelsea Clinton’s 2010 wedding.)

“He liked them and their star quality, and he respected a lot of things Bill Clinton did as president,” said Edward G. Rendell, a former governor of Pennsylvania who is close to the Clintons. “That’s all out the window now,” he added.

In an email, Mr. Trump said his friendship with Mr. Clinton was strictly business. “It was my obligation to get along with all politicians,” he wrote. “And I did it better than anybody.”

He said he did not recall whether the Clintons had stayed at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. “If they did want to stay there, or stayed there, it only shows that they have good taste,” he added.

Some have suggested that Mr. Trump, whose own affair with Marla Maples and his split from his first wife, Ivana Trump, were splashed across tabloids, is an imperfect messenger on the issue of fidelity.

Mr. Trump also opens himself up to criticism about his own personal life, including allegations that he assaulted Ivana Trump, which he has denied and which the former Mrs. Trump recently backed away from.

Mr. Trump, however, said he was “the perfect messenger because I fully understand life and all its wrinkles,” and reiterated his claim that Mrs. Clinton had bullied some of the women who accused her husband of improprieties.

Republican opponents have highlighted Mr. Trump’s previously fawning comments about Mr. Clinton.

Back in 1999, Mr. Trump expressed admiration for Mr. Clinton’s retail political skills, telling CNBC: “I wish I could be like that. I just can’t.”

And a couple of years later, he echoed that comment, recalling an anecdote about watching Mr. Clinton work a crowd.

“He shook hands with everybody out there,” said Mr. Trump, who is regarded as something of a germaphobe. “And some of these people had filthy hands.”

Sources: ABC News, NY Times, NBC News

Michelle Bachmann's Newsweek Cover Vs. Sarah Palin's Newsweek Cover: Queens Of Tea Party Rage? Sexist Or Fair?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Does The Michele Bachmann Newsweek Cover Make Her ‘Look Crazy’?

Conservative media watchdog Newsbusters is helpfully defending GOP presidential hopeful Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) honor against those serial cover photo offenders at Newsweek, excoriating the magazine for using a cover photo of the Tea Party fave that makes her “look crazy.”

Their hearts are in the right place, but is Newsbusters really helping Bachmann out by starting a national debate about how crazy she looks?

Newsbusters‘ headline might make you think they’re just being oversensitive, but once you get a load of Newsweek’s cover, it’s immediately apparent that they have a point. Newsweek subscribers, upon receiving this issue, will probably scratch their heads trying to remember when they signed up for a trial subscription to It Puts The Lotion In The Basket Weekly.

There’s something about Newsbusters Editor Noel Sheppard’s commentary that isn’t quite right, though. Take a look at the full cover, and tell me if you can see what’s missing from Sheppard’s one line of criticism about Newsweek:

Exactly what were the editors thinking putting this kind of a picture of a sitting Congresswoman and presidential candidate on their cover?

Is Sheppard conceding the point that Michele Bachmann is “The Queen Of Rage,” as the Newsweek cover giant-fontedly dubs her? If not, it’s a pretty glaring omission.

Sheppard also neglects to mention any of the previous Newsweek cover “controversies,” a deviation from Newsbusters’ normally exhaustive M.O.

A cynic might wonder if the real point of this item was, in fact, to start a national debate about how crazy Michele Bachmann looks. In a Republican presidential field that’s weaker than Charles Atlas beginners class, Bachmann’s ability to connect with the energized Tea Party base has made her a danger to the likes of Mitt Romney (R-MA) and Tim Pawlenty (R-UhRoh). Republicans have come out of the woodwork to attack Bachmann over her migraines. A debate over her “crazy eyes” fits in well with a strategy to discredit a candidate who is a very real threat to the GOP establishment.

For what it’s worth, the Newsweek photo certainly doesn’t seem designed to flatter Bachmann, and is strongly evocative of her post-SOTU address to the faerie on the cameraman’s shoulder, but it’s probably intended to pair with that “Queen Of Rage” headline. It’s tough to see how anyone could have a problem with one, and not the other.


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Sources: Fox News, Huffington Post, Mediaite, Newsweek, The Slate, Youtube, Google Maps

Charlotte's United Way Defends Gloria Pace King's Settlement: Her Strong Case

United Way Defends $700,000 Payout To King

The day after ending their legal fight with Gloria Pace King, United Way officials defended their $700,000 settlement by saying it would have cost more in legal fees to go to trial against their former CEO.

King sued the agency for discrimination and wrongful termination after it fired her in 2008 amid controversy over her compensation package.

The agency agreed to pay her $233,333, while its insurance carrier will pay $466,666. The United Way's share will come from a variety of sources, including donor dollars from past campaigns and investment revenue.

King had sought a $2.1 million supplemental retirement account, plus about $500,000 in back pay remaining from her three-year employment contract.

"It makes the decision look easy when you look at it like that," United Way Executive Director Jane McIntyre said. "That $233,000 is a big amount of money, but you can see the difference."

Russ Sizemore, the lawyer who handled the United Way's case, noted that the settlement came after a judge said no trial would happen until 2012, and that the pre-trial "discovery" process of exchanging documents and interviewing witnesses would run until the end of next July.

Lawyers, who have already been working - and billing - on the case for months, would be working another year before setting foot in court for a trial.

"That's a good benchmark for people to sit back and say, 'Well, let's see if we can't resolve this' out of court," Sizemore said Thursday. "It's a good settlement for the community."

Asked how big his bill would be, Sizemore said he and his partner on the case, Bo Ketner, were still tallying their fees, which would be paid by the United Way and its insurance carrier. Sizemore added that the settlement doesn't require the United Way to pay King's legal fees.

Veteran Charlotte trial lawyer Jim Cooney said legal fees on a case like King's would likely run "substantially into six figures." In addition, the United Way's staff would have been swamped producing documents for lawyers and preparing themselves for possibility they'd be called to testify.

King's lawyer, Bill Diehl, had suggested he might depose as many as 75 people.

A trial "can be an enormous distraction for an organization," said Cooney, who wasn't involved in the King case. "At a place like the United Way that potentially has to re-fund itself every year (through fundraising campaigns), it can be devastating."

Virtually all civil lawsuits end in settlements, partly because trials are so costly and unpredictable, said Charlotte employment lawyer Brian Clarke.

"You have to (consider settlements), it just makes good business sense," he said.

The United Way's $233,333 will come from $822,507 set aside for King's supplemental pension account in 2007. The rest - about $500,000 - will be returned to the Community Care Fund, the pool of money divided up each spring among United Way's member charities.

Sizemore said the settlement also resolves all claims against United Way board members King named as defendants. Left unclear is the status of a criminal investigation of King by the local U.S. Attorney's Office and the Internal Revenue Service.

Sizemore said he had no knowledge about the probe. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office said she couldn't confirm or deny the existence of any investigation.





United Way Settles Lawsuit With Former CEO, Gloria Pace King


The United Way of the Central Carolinas has settled a divisive discrimination lawsuit brought by ousted CEO Gloria Pace King for $700,000 although only a third of that money will come from the agency and none from the current fund raising campaign.

The United Way will pay $233,333 out of a reserve fund set aside for the costs of the lawsuit and the remaining $466,666 will be paid by insurance policies.

King was fired after a NewsChannel 36 I-Team investigation in July of 2008 revealed that she was being paid more than $2 million in retirement funds over the course of three years.

The revelation brought a firestorm of public criticism and changes at the charity agency.

New United Way Executive Director Jane McIntyre said she was relieved to have the 26 month ordeal behind her but added, "I don't think there are ever winners in a situation like this."

King hired prominent Charlotte attorney Bill Diehl and filed a race, gender and age discrimination claim. King had earlier dropped a defamation lawsuit against interim United Way CEO Mac Everett. Diehl's assistant said he was out of town conducting a deposition and unavailable for comment.

In August of 2008 then-board Chairman Graham Denton publicly apologized on behalf of the board for the retirement package which he said "...exceeds what the community expects." Faced with plummeting contributions and an erosion of confidence, Denton said, "We have made a serious mistake. We owe the community an apology."

King never apologized.

In a February 2009 radio interview on WBAV-FM 101.9 King defended her salary and retirement benefits saying, "I raised over $500 million." King said she thought the board was fully aware of her salary and benefits. "I have never given myself a raise. I have never asked for a specific amount of money.... Whatever they gave me, I said, 'Thank you very much.'"

But an extensive outside review of the board action leading up to the $2 million retirement commitment concluded that King engineered her own pay by controlling the flow of information from compensation consultants to the board.

The United Way put in checks and balances governing executive compensation after the I-Team's report. The agency also cut the size of the board by two-thirds - from 67 to 22 - and cut the staff more than half - from 97 to 42.

The new leader of the United Way of the Central Carolinas, Jane McIntyre, earns less than half what King was paid.





United Way CEO Hires Lawyer Richard Diehl


United Way President and CEO Gloria Pace King has hired prominent Charlotte lawyer Bill Diehl to represent her in negotiations with her board of directors stemming from the growing controversy over her pay and benefits.

The board added $822,000 to King's retirement benefits last year, a six-fold increase over the $108,000 paid in 2006. It plans to pay between $450,000 and $500,000 into her retirement account each year for the next three years.

King's salary and bonus make her the fourth-highest-paid United Way executive, according to an Observer survey of 32 agencies. Only the United Ways in New York, Detroit and Miami pay more.

The Charlotte board has said the additional retirement payments were needed to make up for short payments in previous years. It has declined to explain why the catch-up payments were needed or say how it set the size of King's pay package.

In response to Diehl's hiring, the Observer called King, and the board's attorney, public relations firm and spokesman, former board chairman Ned Curran. But none commented Saturday.

It's unclear why King hired an attorney. But Diehl told the Observer on Saturday: “She came to me because there's been a big splash in the newspaper.

“The board is making a big to-do about something they previously approved. They're very defensive about the fact that she's gotten this retirement plan they gave her. It's crazy. They gave her the plan two years ago. And now they're concerned about it because somebody's written about it.”

On the eve of the United Way's 2008 fund-raising campaign, anger towards the agency continues to grow, threatening donations that support 91 non-profits.

“It's a publicity nightmare because the board hasn't taken the right approach to the situation,” Diehl said. “If somebody did something wrong, it's not Gloria King.”

Diehl said the board has not asked King to resign. He said she signed a three-year contract in January. “She's 63 years old and she expects to retire in two years.”

King, president and CEO since 1994, has declined to comment since reports about her pay surfaced in June. Her board has defended her salary and benefits as appropriate for top-performing executives.

United Way of Central Carolinas is ranked among the United Way's top 20 largest fund-raisers. The watchdog group, Charity Navigator, gives King's agency high marks for efficiency. The board credits King with boosting the agency to No. 2 in the number of donors giving at least $10,000.

Yet, the controversy over the board's handling of her pay has hung over the city for months.

For the first time in 40 years, philanthropist David Barnhardt will withhold his United Way contribution in protest. He plans to write checks for charity this year, but says they “will go directly to the Girl Scouts or some other nonprofit.”

Barnhardt, 72, whose father was an original director of what became Foundation for the Carolinas, says he's most bothered by “the fact that the board has been sneaky and tried to slip all this past the public.

“They've come up with a lot of excuses and they're not good excuses.”

Richard Snyder served on United Way of Central Carolinas' executive committee in 2000 and said he doesn't remember any discussion about retirement benefits.

“It seems like somewhere along the line the ball was dropped,” he said. “I don't understand what the benefit package was supposed to be that wasn't being met….I don't ever remember discussing retirement benefits. We discussed salary and bonus.”

“The shame of it is the United Way is a good organization,” he said. “And unfortunately, they're going to be hurt by this…there are services in the community that won't be funded because of this.”

Diehl said the board's leadership approved King's retirement plan.

“She had no role in that,” he said. “She didn't ask for it. They offered it to her.”

Diehl often represents people in the spotlight. Clients have included Charlotte Hornets owner George Shinn and speedway mogul Bruton Smith.

Diehl said he expects that something is going to happen within a week. There are, he said, three choices: King can continue in her job; she can resign; or she can be fired.

“Those are the choices in any employment dispute,” Diehl said.

Diehl said he's negotiating with United Way's attorney. He would not provide specifics.

“We're negotiating about the situation and how it can best be solved,” Diehl said. “I think they need to honor Gloria King's contract.”


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Sources: Biz Journals, McClatchy Newspapers, United Way, Wall Street Journal, WCNC, Wikipedia, Google Maps

Gloria Pace King Wins United Way Defamation-Discrimination Legal Battle: Congratulations!!

United Way Settles Lawsuit With Former CEO, Gloria Pace King


The United Way of the Central Carolinas has settled a divisive discrimination lawsuit brought by ousted CEO Gloria Pace King for $700,000 although only a third of that money will come from the agency and none from the current fund raising campaign.

The United Way will pay $233,333 out of a reserve fund set aside for the costs of the lawsuit and the remaining $466,666 will be paid by insurance policies.

King was fired after a NewsChannel 36 I-Team investigation in July of 2008 revealed that she was being paid more than $2 million in retirement funds over the course of three years.

The revelation brought a firestorm of public criticism and changes at the charity agency.

New United Way Executive Director Jane McIntyre said she was relieved to have the 26 month ordeal behind her but added, "I don't think there are ever winners in a situation like this."

King hired prominent Charlotte attorney Bill Diehl and filed a race, gender and age discrimination claim. King had earlier dropped a defamation lawsuit against interim United Way CEO Mac Everett. Diehl's assistant said he was out of town conducting a deposition and unavailable for comment.

In August of 2008 then-board Chairman Graham Denton publicly apologized on behalf of the board for the retirement package which he said "...exceeds what the community expects." Faced with plummeting contributions and an erosion of confidence, Denton said, "We have made a serious mistake. We owe the community an apology."

King never apologized.

In a February 2009 radio interview on WBAV-FM 101.9 King defended her salary and retirement benefits saying, "I raised over $500 million." King said she thought the board was fully aware of her salary and benefits. "I have never given myself a raise. I have never asked for a specific amount of money.... Whatever they gave me, I said, 'Thank you very much.'"

But an extensive outside review of the board action leading up to the $2 million retirement commitment concluded that King engineered her own pay by controlling the flow of information from compensation consultants to the board.

The United Way put in checks and balances governing executive compensation after the I-Team's report. The agency also cut the size of the board by two-thirds - from 67 to 22 - and cut the staff more than half - from 97 to 42.

The new leader of the United Way of the Central Carolinas, Jane McIntyre, earns less than half what King was paid.





United Way Defends $700,000 Payout To King

The day after ending their legal fight with Gloria Pace King, United Way officials defended their $700,000 settlement by saying it would have cost more in legal fees to go to trial against their former CEO.

King sued the agency for discrimination and wrongful termination after it fired her in 2008 amid controversy over her compensation package.

The agency agreed to pay her $233,333, while its insurance carrier will pay $466,666. The United Way's share will come from a variety of sources, including donor dollars from past campaigns and investment revenue.

King had sought a $2.1 million supplemental retirement account, plus about $500,000 in back pay remaining from her three-year employment contract.

"It makes the decision look easy when you look at it like that," United Way Executive Director Jane McIntyre said. "That $233,000 is a big amount of money, but you can see the difference."

Russ Sizemore, the lawyer who handled the United Way's case, noted that the settlement came after a judge said no trial would happen until 2012, and that the pre-trial "discovery" process of exchanging documents and interviewing witnesses would run until the end of next July.

Lawyers, who have already been working - and billing - on the case for months, would be working another year before setting foot in court for a trial.

"That's a good benchmark for people to sit back and say, 'Well, let's see if we can't resolve this' out of court," Sizemore said Thursday. "It's a good settlement for the community."

Asked how big his bill would be, Sizemore said he and his partner on the case, Bo Ketner, were still tallying their fees, which would be paid by the United Way and its insurance carrier. Sizemore added that the settlement doesn't require the United Way to pay King's legal fees.

Veteran Charlotte trial lawyer Jim Cooney said legal fees on a case like King's would likely run "substantially into six figures." In addition, the United Way's staff would have been swamped producing documents for lawyers and preparing themselves for possibility they'd be called to testify.

King's lawyer, Bill Diehl, had suggested he might depose as many as 75 people.

A trial "can be an enormous distraction for an organization," said Cooney, who wasn't involved in the King case. "At a place like the United Way that potentially has to re-fund itself every year (through fundraising campaigns), it can be devastating."

Virtually all civil lawsuits end in settlements, partly because trials are so costly and unpredictable, said Charlotte employment lawyer Brian Clarke.

"You have to (consider settlements), it just makes good business sense," he said.

The United Way's $233,333 will come from $822,507 set aside for King's supplemental pension account in 2007. The rest - about $500,000 - will be returned to the Community Care Fund, the pool of money divided up each spring among United Way's member charities.

Sizemore said the settlement also resolves all claims against United Way board members King named as defendants. Left unclear is the status of a criminal investigation of King by the local U.S. Attorney's Office and the Internal Revenue Service.

Sizemore said he had no knowledge about the probe. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office said she couldn't confirm or deny the existence of any investigation.




United Way CEO Hires Lawyer Richard Diehl


United Way President and CEO Gloria Pace King has hired prominent Charlotte lawyer Bill Diehl to represent her in negotiations with her board of directors stemming from the growing controversy over her pay and benefits.

The board added $822,000 to King's retirement benefits last year, a six-fold increase over the $108,000 paid in 2006. It plans to pay between $450,000 and $500,000 into her retirement account each year for the next three years.

King's salary and bonus make her the fourth-highest-paid United Way executive, according to an Observer survey of 32 agencies. Only the United Ways in New York, Detroit and Miami pay more.

The Charlotte board has said the additional retirement payments were needed to make up for short payments in previous years. It has declined to explain why the catch-up payments were needed or say how it set the size of King's pay package.

In response to Diehl's hiring, the Observer called King, and the board's attorney, public relations firm and spokesman, former board chairman Ned Curran. But none commented Saturday.

It's unclear why King hired an attorney. But Diehl told the Observer on Saturday: “She came to me because there's been a big splash in the newspaper.

“The board is making a big to-do about something they previously approved. They're very defensive about the fact that she's gotten this retirement plan they gave her. It's crazy. They gave her the plan two years ago. And now they're concerned about it because somebody's written about it.”

On the eve of the United Way's 2008 fund-raising campaign, anger towards the agency continues to grow, threatening donations that support 91 non-profits.

“It's a publicity nightmare because the board hasn't taken the right approach to the situation,” Diehl said. “If somebody did something wrong, it's not Gloria King.”

Diehl said the board has not asked King to resign. He said she signed a three-year contract in January. “She's 63 years old and she expects to retire in two years.”

King, president and CEO since 1994, has declined to comment since reports about her pay surfaced in June. Her board has defended her salary and benefits as appropriate for top-performing executives.

United Way of Central Carolinas is ranked among the United Way's top 20 largest fund-raisers. The watchdog group, Charity Navigator, gives King's agency high marks for efficiency. The board credits King with boosting the agency to No. 2 in the number of donors giving at least $10,000.

Yet, the controversy over the board's handling of her pay has hung over the city for months.

For the first time in 40 years, philanthropist David Barnhardt will withhold his United Way contribution in protest. He plans to write checks for charity this year, but says they “will go directly to the Girl Scouts or some other nonprofit.”

Barnhardt, 72, whose father was an original director of what became Foundation for the Carolinas, says he's most bothered by “the fact that the board has been sneaky and tried to slip all this past the public.

“They've come up with a lot of excuses and they're not good excuses.”

Richard Snyder served on United Way of Central Carolinas' executive committee in 2000 and said he doesn't remember any discussion about retirement benefits.

“It seems like somewhere along the line the ball was dropped,” he said. “I don't understand what the benefit package was supposed to be that wasn't being met….I don't ever remember discussing retirement benefits. We discussed salary and bonus.”

“The shame of it is the United Way is a good organization,” he said. “And unfortunately, they're going to be hurt by this…there are services in the community that won't be funded because of this.”

Diehl said the board's leadership approved King's retirement plan.

“She had no role in that,” he said. “She didn't ask for it. They offered it to her.”

Diehl often represents people in the spotlight. Clients have included Charlotte Hornets owner George Shinn and speedway mogul Bruton Smith.

Diehl said he expects that something is going to happen within a week. There are, he said, three choices: King can continue in her job; she can resign; or she can be fired.

“Those are the choices in any employment dispute,” Diehl said.

Diehl said he's negotiating with United Way's attorney. He would not provide specifics.

“We're negotiating about the situation and how it can best be solved,” Diehl said. “I think they need to honor Gloria King's contract.”


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Sources: Biz Journals, McClatchy Newspapers, United Way, Wall Street Journal, WCNC, Wikipedia, Google Maps

Ronald Reagan Employed Same Sexist G.O.P. "Judicial Temperament" Tactic With SCOTUS Pick Sandra Day O'Connor (Video)

Daily Kos TV----

The ORIGINAL “reverse sexist”: Ronald Reagan pledged female Supreme Court nominee.

Surprise, surprise: Ronald Reagan was guilty of the same sort of "identity politics" that conservatives are accusing President Obama and Judge Sotomayor of practicing.

During the closing days of the 1980 presidential campaign, Reagan pledged to appoint a woman to the Supreme Court, saying one of the first openings "will be filled by the most qualified woman I can find…it is time for a woman to sit among our highest jurists."

Reagan also pledged to appoint women to lower federal courts "in an effort to bring about a better balance on the federal bench."

With his appointment of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on July 7, 1981, Reagan kept his promise, saying "I’ve long believed that the time has come for the highest court in our land to include not only distinguished men, but distinguished women as well."

Watch:



Posted May 27, 2009, 7:42 AM PT by Jed Lewison • First broadcast: Jul 7, 1981

Sources: Daily Kos, Daily KosTV, Wikipedia