NAACP Staff Rehired as Donations Rise

Increased donations are letting the NAACP recall nearly all the workers it furloughed to ease a $3.5-million deficit, the organization said Friday.

But the group eliminated 14 jobs, most at its Baltimore headquarters, and is considering temporarily cutting wages, said board Chairman William F. Gibson.

About 90 workers were laid off during the fall at the nation’s oldest civil rights organization. Some had already been brought back and 47 will be recalled Tuesday, bringing the group’s staff up to 72, Gibson said.

When the layoffs were announced, the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People was taking in about $15,000 a day. It now is receiving about $40,000 a day in donations, enough to cover costs, Gibson said.

Gibson and other board members have accused ousted Executive Director Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. of leaving the organization drowning in red ink.

Chavis has denied that, saying he inherited the debt from his predecessor, Benjamin L. Hooks. Hooks has said that when he retired in 1993 there was a $600,000 surplus.

The NAACP’s image was tarnished when it was revealed that Chavis had agreed to pay a former assistant $332,000 to settle a sex-discrimination complaint without consulting the board. Chavis was fired in August.

Gibson said he did not know if the NAACP had reduced its deficit and would not know until an audit has been done. The board has ordered an audit but has not decided who should do it, said spokeswoman Linda Hursey.

“We are on the way up from the ruins to build our empire again,” said Annie B. Martin, president of the New York branch.