Officials to Urge Settlement Involving Grammy’s Greene

High-ranking officials of the Grammy organization will recommend this month a settlement of more than half a million dollars to resolve sexual assault and battery allegations against the nonprofit group’s chief executive, C. Michael Greene, Grammy sources said.

The proposed settlement, subject to approval by the group’s board of directors, has sparked a boardroom revolt, with at least a dozen of the 41 trustees privately calling for Greene’s firing, according to four Grammy officials who agreed to discuss the case under the condition of anonymity. The backlash is a significant shift for a board that has supported Greene despite six other internal harassment and discrimination complaints against him dating back to 1992.

Greene has declined to return repeated telephone calls since Friday. Representatives for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Santa Monica-based group responsible for staging the annual worldwide telecast of the Grammy Awards, also declined comment.

Attorneys for the academy previously denied that Greene assaulted or had any sexual contact with Jill Geimer, the Grammy executive who has threatened to sue over Greene’s alleged misconduct.

Grammy board Chairman Garth Fundis said in a Sept. 12 statement provided to The Times on Tuesday that he and other members of the executive committee also believed that Geimer’s claims had no merit. “This is an ongoing legal and personnel issue and, as such, the academy has no further comment at this time,” the statement said.

Since then, top Grammy officials have agreed to hire an independent investigator to examine allegations by Geimer and other women disclosed during settlement talks Oct. 12. If the internal investigation confirms the allegations, the Grammy officials plan to recommend the full board discipline or remove Greene from his post, according to sources close to the deliberations.

A vote of a majority of board members is required to oust Greene; it is unknown how many of the trustees oppose him.

In 1996, harassment complaints leveled by at least six female employees prompted board members to call for an investigation into Greene’s behavior. At the time, Greene denied the allegations and the internal probe concluded that all of them were groundless.

Over the last decade, Greene has transformed the Grammy Awards into a global television event before an audience of 1.5 billion. During his tenure, the telecast rights to the show have risen in value to more than $20million. Last week, Greene negotiated a five-year extension of the broadcast rights with CBS.

The controversy threatening Greene’s future stems from a July 25 letter sent to the organization by attorneys for Geimer. She was hired in August 2000 to run the Grammy human resources department--a division created by the organization, in part, to monitor harassment cases following previous complaints against Greene.

The letter from Geimer’s attorneys detailed allegations of physical, sexual and psychological abuse by Greene over a period of one year. In the last month, Grammy officials have attended two 12-hour settlement meetings with Geimer and her legal team to dissuade her from filing a lawsuit.

Greene’s attorneys have characterized Geimer, whose salary was doubled by Greene during her yearlong tenure, as an ambitious executive seeking money and a romantic relationship with her boss. The attorneys recently showed The Times excerpts of e-mails from Geimer in which she praised Greene during the period she now says he was attacking her.

Geimer, who has been on a medical disability leave for stress and depression since July, declined to comment for this report. Although Geimer’s attorneys, Gloria Allred and Nathan Goldberg, declined to discuss the case, Allred said, “Any attacks on [Geimer’s] reputation are unwarranted and unfair.”

Grammy sources say plans are in motion to submit the settlement offer for approval to the full board. It is unclear whether nonprofit funds will be tapped to pay the settlement. Sources familiar with the negotiations say the board may require Greene, whose annual compensation package exceeds $2 million, to foot the bill himself.

Another alternative: Trustees could tap into a sexual misconduct liability insurance policy authorized in June by Greene to cover the academy for such incidents, sources said.

A growing group of trustees is seeking to dismiss the once-powerful nonprofit chief before the next Grammy telecast in February, according to academy officials familiar with the negotiations.

Geimer, who came to the academy with two master’s degrees and a decade of experience in the human resources field, contends that Greene offered her a job only to “facilitate having a personal relationship with her,” according to the July 25 letter. Geimer contends Greene sexually assaulted her last year behind a restaurant and claims Greene erupted violently on several occasions at the office in which he threatened her and physically injured her.

Grammy officials decided to recommend a settlement after an Oct. 12 conference in which Geimer’s attorneys presented e-mails from Greene and affidavits from individuals supporting her version of events, Grammy sources said.

The information presented by Geimer’s attorneys included details involving at least two other female executives whom Greene allegedly harassed and forced out of the organization during the mid-1990s, Grammy sources say.