Grammys Chief Calls Her Removal Retaliation for Exposing ‘Boys’ Club’

That allegation, according to Ms. Dugan’s complaint, was made by a former assistant to Mr. Portnow, who had remained attached to Ms. Dugan until she hired her own aide. After finding the work of this assistant unsatisfactory, Ms. Dugan offered her a new position, but she refused it and took a leave of absence, the complaint said. Eventually a lawyer for the assistant sent the academy a letter accusing Ms. Dugan of “being a bully,” as Ms. Dugan’s complaint puts it.

By that point, Ms. Dugan’s complaint says, the academy’s board had begun to strip her of some of her powers. Harvey Mason Jr., a record producer who is the board chairman, sent Ms. Dugan a letter on Dec. 9, informing her that she was no longer permitted to terminate staff members without board approval, and could not assign any new initiatives or choose any outside counsel for the academy’s legal work.

On Dec. 22, Ms. Dugan sent a memo to the academy’s top human resources officer detailing her concerns, and two days later a lawyer representing her notified the academy that she “intended to pursue legal claims,” according to the complaint filed on Tuesday.

In an interview with The New York Times before Ms. Dugan’s complaint was filed, Mr. Mason and Christine Albert, the academy’s board emeritus, said they were committed to changing the organization but that Ms. Dugan had been moving too fast, had not taken the time to understand how the organization functioned, and disrespected the staff by not listening to their opinions.

“What we expected was change without chaos,” Ms. Albert said.

Ms. Dugan’s complaint argues that the assistant’s complaint was a mere pretext for dismissing Ms. Dugan after she reported problems at the academy and challenged the close business ties between the organization and two law firms that perform the bulk of its legal work, yielding millions of dollars in fees each year.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/21/arts/music/grammys-deborah-dugan-harassment.html?emc=rss&partner=rss