
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 5, 1994                   TAG: 9408050091
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Medium

CHAVIS REFUSES TO QUIT AS LEADER OF NAACP

NAACP Executive Director Benjamin Chavis refused Thursday to resign over his out-of-court settlement with a former employee, as NAACP officials called on him to quit and chapters in two states threatened to withhold money.

``I have no intentions of resigning from the NAACP. I've been a member since I was 12 years old,'' Chavis said. ``I've done nothing wrong.''

Chavis also gave reporters a letter from a lawyer who helped negotiate the settlement that warned the employee, Mary E. Stansel, that she had no basis for accusing Chavis of sexually harassing her.

In the July 7 letter, Mobile, Ala., attorney Rose M. Sanders said sexual discrimination, not harassment, ``was a claim raised and resolved'' in the settlement. She instructed Stansel to delete a sexual harassment charge from the breach of contract lawsuit she filed against Chavis in late June. Stansel refused.

``I advised you on several occasions that you did not have a sexual harassment case against Dr. Chavis,'' Sanders wrote. ``I at no time posed sexual harassment as an issue.''

Chavis released the letter in an attempt to defend himself before NAACP members, supporters and critics who say he should either step down or be removed from office for using NAACP money to negotiate the $332,000 settlement.

Stansel's June lawsuit contends Chavis reneged on their settlement, which was reached last November without the knowledge of the NAACP's 64-member board of directors. Chavis committed the NAACP to pay Stansel up to $82,400 while he tried to find her an $80,000-a-year job. He promised an additional $250,000 if she received no job offer.

Chavis' critics said the Stansel case indicated irresponsible spending habits that led to a $2.7 million budget deficit.

As a result of Stansel's charges, NAACP chapters in Washington and Oregon said they would withhold money from the national office pending an audit, and several NAACP officials have urged Chavis to resign.

by CNB