The National Diversity Council (NDC)l filed for bankruptcy earlier this month after its board members filed a lawsuit accusing founder R. Dennis Kennedy and other top employees of siphoning off millions in funds for their own benefit. The lawsuit states:
This suit stems from Defendants’ years-long scheme to personally and improperly profit from NDC’s donations, staffing, resources, name, platform, and trademarks.
Defendants have misappropriated donor funds in numerous ways, including by unilaterally paying themselves large salaries, paying themselves as contractors, and paying non-NDC entities money that was then earmarked for the Defendants.
Defendants Kennedy, deGroot, and Valenciano created an unapproved scheme to pay themselves more money in the form of “back pay,” even though NDC never approved a deferred compensation program for them.