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July 25, 2003/Tamuz 25 5763, Vol. 55, No. 48
JFCS faces lawsuit over employment dispute
JESSICA BARBER
Staff Writer
A lawsuit has been filed against Jewish Family & Children's Service by a man claiming he was offered a position as president and CEO of the organization, and then was not hired.
The plaintiff, Keith Frankel of Chandler, and his lawyer, Tod Schleier of Schleier, Jellison & Schleier, PC in Phoenix, filed the complaint in the Superior Court of Arizona on July 11.
Frankel alleges that after an extensive interview process with the JFCS board of directors, he began negotiating an employment agreement with the organization. On June 19, Frankel "received a call advising him that the executive committee had met and put on hold a decision to finalize the agreement," according to the court documents. Frankel also claims in the document he was told by Edna Sitelman, co-chairwoman of the board of directors, that "the executive committee had voted not to hire" him.
The court document further states that the "defendant made promises to plaintiff to employ him as president/CEO beginning on July 7, 2003, to put their agreement in writing and to provide him a written employment agreement."
Frankel and Schleier declined to comment.
Dick Geasland, interim CEO of JFCS and the organization's chief clinical and operations officer, said that JFCS has filed the notice of action claim with the Superior Court. They have recently retained legal representation by Tracy Miller and Joe Clees of Bryan Cave, LLP.
Miller, who recently took on the case, declined to comment. Clees could not be reached.
In an official statement released July 23, JFCS referred to the lawsuit as "nothing more than Mr. Frankel complaining that he did not become the Chief Executive Officer of JFCS after our organization had in-depth discussions with him about the position."
The statement goes on to say that "Mr. Frankel's allegations appear to be an effort to sensationalize an otherwise pedestrian employment dispute by making scurrilous and provably false assertions about our organization."
A spokesperson for JFCS said their board of directors handled the situation in an ethical manner.
"We have policies that we were following and all of our dealings were fair and for the good of the agency," said Sitelman. "This was not a decision made by one person, but rather by the entire board."
Frankel is seeking damages in an amount to be determined at trial, attorneys' fees, costs of the suit and "any other relief a court deems just and proper."
The JFCS's former CEO, Gail Parin, who left the agency in June, also declined to comment.
Contact the writer at jessica_barber@jewishaz.com.
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