NAACP Found Not Liable for Claim Settlement

The NAACP does not have to pay the $332,400 promised by former Executive Director Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. to settle an employee’s sexual-harassment claim, a jury ruled Thursday.

The jury also concluded the civil rights organization is entitled to a refund of the money already paid.

“This marks the end of a very unfortunate episode in the recent history of a great American organization,” said NAACP President Kweisi Mfume.

Mary E. Stansel, who testified that she feared for her job if she did not yield to Chavis’ advances, must repay $63,800 of the money she already has received from the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People. Chavis also must return $5,400 the NAACP paid on his behalf.

Chavis made a deal in November 1993 to settle the claim of Stansel, his executive assistant, without first seeking approval from the civil rights organization’s executive board.

The settlement itself did not figure in the case; the only issue was who must pay it. The jury was not told that D.C. Superior Court Judge Henry Kennedy ruled last fall that the liability was Chavis’.

That ruling is being appealed.

“I’ve said all the time that her claims have no merit,” Chavis said. “There was no sexual harassment, there was no sexual discrimination, there was no breach of contract. I think the jury reached that conclusion.