ATHENS COUNTY, Ohio — Former Survivor Advocacy Outreach Program director Jen Seifert lost a bid to toss out some of the claims against her in a lawsuit from her former employer in a Nov. 26 court decision.
Seifert and SAOP are waging a legal battle on multiple fronts in the Athens County Court of Common Pleas, with Seifert accusing the nonprofit of defamation and the nonprofit accusing Seifert of misusing nearly $1 million in organizational funds.
Seifert sought to get some of the claims against her tossed out through summary judgment – a judgment without a trial, which can happen in civil cases when the facts can only be interpreted to favor one outcome.
Athens County Court of Common Pleas Judge George McCarthy found in his Nov. 26 decision that summary judgement was not appropriate in this situation, because there are “genuine issues of material fact” regarding the claims by SAOP that Seifert had sought to toss.
Seifert’s request specifically pertained to a transaction with a 3D-printing technology company involving more than $700,000 transaction. SAOP has claimed it never received any goods or services from the company and that the transaction was made without board approval.
Seifert argued in court filings that the transaction was done in accordance with board decisions and the organization’s internal controls.
Seifert pointed to board approval of certain specific purchases from the company, Alquist. She said the more than $700,000 transaction was part of a holding fee agreement to secure the board-authorized purchases. Seifert further argued it is SAOP’s own fault that it failed to secure those goods and services from the company after SAOP terminated her from her role at the nonprofit amid staff skepticism of her leadership.
Seifert said there were “no competing facts” that could suggest her payment to Alquist “was done with deliberate intent to hurt SAOP or was otherwise reckless.” Therefore, she argued the court should grant her request for summary judgment.
SAOP, however, said in a court filing that Seifert’s claims are “baseless.” SAOP said its board authorized only specifically enumerated purchases from the company, and that the holding fee agreement was developed completely without the board’s knowledge.
McCarthy said key issues that need to be resolved include “whether the SAOP Board approved of the ‘Holding Fee Agreement’ or had any knowledge of the agreement, whether Seifert’s actions demonstrated a lack of good faith to act in SAOP’s best interests, and whether or not SAOP suffered damages due to Seifer’s actions.”
“It cannot be said that in this case that Seifert should be entitled to judgment as a matter of law or that reasonable minds could come to but one conclusion and that conclusion is adverse to SAOР,” McCarthy wrote.
Due to McCarthy’s decision, SAOP’s claims against Seifert stand for now, though the legal battle is far from over.
In an Oct. 20 decision, McCarthy determined the case constitutes complex litigation, meaning that the case may take up to three years from initial filing to resolve.
SAOP executive director Madison Trace declined to comment for this story. Seifert’s communications consultant did not respond to the Independent’s request for comment by press time.
Disclosure: Jen Seifert served on the board of Southeast Ohio Independent News, which publishes the Athens County Independent, from its inception in August 2022 through January 2023. The author of this story, Dani Kington, and the Independent’s editor, Corinne Colbert, worked with her directly.
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