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Couple sues United Way over policy, funding
Ventura County Star ^ | November 16, 2003 | By John Mitchell

Posted on 11/20/2003 9:07:02 AM PST by 11th_VA

They say charity's 'inclusiveness policy' forces its views on other organizations

Denny and Allyson Weinberg are a couple who say it is important for them to do things together. That includes being co-plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed in September against United Way of Ventura County.

Denny, 51, a top executive with WellPoint Health Networks Inc., and Allyson, 49, a former well-known chef who owned four restaurants, have a history of community volunteering. They say their concern for nonprofit agencies, including the Boy Scouts of America Ventura County Council, is the driving force behind their lawsuit.

The Weinbergs charge that United Way, the county's main collector and distributor of funds to nonprofit groups, is trying to force its values on the other organizations. In June 2001, United Way adopted an "inclusiveness policy" that requires member agencies to not reject potential employees or volunteers because of sexual orientation.

Since July 1, the policy has caused the local Boy Scouts, who will not accept homosexuals in leadership positions, to lose their United Way membership and funding. This especially strikes home to Allyson, she said, because she is a member of the Scouts board. The Scouts, however, are not a party to the Weinbergs' lawsuit.

The Weinbergs also allege that United Way has used more of their donations for administrative expenses than it promised it would. Specifically, local United Way representatives allegedly told the Weinbergs that no more than 15 percent would be deducted from donations for expenses. The Weinbergs say they have documentation that 20 percent or more has gone to administrative expenses.

United Way officials counter that their organization is being unjustly accused. They say the allegations are false, maintain they have tried to continue a funding relationship with the Boy Scouts, and that they have offered to discuss the differences with the Weinbergs.

On Monday, United Way attorneys filed papers in court saying the lawsuit lacks merit and should be dismissed. They claim the suit is an attempt by the Weinbergs to punish United Way for adopting the nondiscriminatory policy. United Way records show that 13.9 percent was deducted for expenses from the Weinbergs' contributions, not the 20 percent alleged in the lawsuit, the new court documents say.

A couple on the go

During a recent interview in their large estate home in Camarillo, the Weinbergs struck a united front by sitting knee-to-knee on an overstuffed couch in their living room. With their attorney, Rick Kahdeman of Simi Valley, sitting nearby, they discussed their personal lives as well as the lawsuit.

The Weinbergs, both in their second marriages, have been wed for 12 years, and their blended family includes four children ages 20-26 and three grandchildren.

Denny is executive vice president in charge of development for the Thousand Oaks-based Wellpoint Health Networks Inc. Allyson is a homemaker, who, she says with some pride, cooks only dishes that contain all-natural ingredients. Outside the house, she sits on the boards of Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, the Center for Family at Pepperdine University and the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families.

Both are members of Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village. In fact, Denny ran the $30 million capital campaign to buy 35.5 acres of prime commercial property along Highway 101 that became the home for the Calvary Community Church/Oaks Christian School complex.

A native of St. Louis, Denny has a degree in engineering from the University of Missouri, and for six years he designed electronic control systems for industrial equipment.

In the 1980s, when the Japanese jumped ahead of the United States in electronics, he bailed out and moved into consulting, spending time with accounting giant Touche Ross. On his first day as a consultant, he showed up for work wearing a polyester suit and his supervisor quickly hustled him off to a Brooks Brothers store.

By 1983, Denny was consulting for 12 Blue Cross/Blue Shield companies around the country, all of which were in trouble. Three years later, Leonard Schaeffer, current chairman and CEO of WellPoint, brought him and other consultants to California to help him with Blue Cross, headquartered in Woodland Hills and Oakland.

In 1987, he was hired by Schaeffer. "Leonard told me, 'This will be a character-building experience for you,' " said Denny, who in 2002 earned $1.6 million in salary and bonuses from WellPoint. "That's what got me, and I've never forgotten it."

In 1992, WellPoint was formed to operate Blue Cross of California's managed-care business. In 1996, WellPoint and Blue Cross of California merged into a single, stockholder-owned company, WellPoint Health Networks Inc. The company has since continued to grow.

Allyson was born and raised in Newport Beach. At age 17, while still attending Corona Del Mar High School, she became an entrepreneur. With her first husband-to-be, she started a business making sandwiches for the health-food industry.

"Eventually, she owned four of the finest restaurants on the coast, which catered to U.S. Presidents Reagan and Nixon," Denny chimed in.

Allyson studied cooking with the likes of James Beard, Marion Cunningham and the late entertainer Danny Kaye. It was an article by Beard that put her tiny Hemingway's Balboa Island Restaurant "on the map," she said.

She sold the restaurants in 1989, but a wood sign saying "Allyson's, a Hemingway's Restaurant" hangs by the barbecue in her home, where she still enjoys preparing "wholesome food."

United Way backers

In 1988, Denny joined United Way of Ventura County's board of directors and, he said, in 1994 chaired the fund-raising campaign that raised a record $6.1 million. Allyson served on United Way's allocations committee in the early 1990s.

In 1995, Denny became the board's chairman-elect but, because of a shift in his job responsibilities that led to more business travel, he was forced to resign. He and Allyson, however, continued to donate to United Way, he said.

During the September 2001 to May 2002 United Way fund-raising campaign, the Weinbergs pledged $100,000, which was deducted from Denny's paycheck in calendar year 2002. Also, he led the United Way fund-raising drive at WellPoint, he said.

The Weinbergs stipulated that 40 percent of their donation be split among United Way's 50 (now 49 without the Boy Scouts) "Community Care," or member, agencies. The balance of the donation was to go to non-member agencies.

All the money donated by the Weinbergs, minus expenses, went to the nonprofits as designated, said David M. Smith, president and CEO of United Way of Ventura County.

The Weinbergs' suit also alleges that the donations were not distributed in a timely manner. United Way officials disagree, saying contributions deducted in calendar year 2002 were distributed to charities from July 2002 to June 2003.

Denny also said that Sheryl Wiley Solomon, Smith's predecessor, assured him several times that the Boy Scouts would remain a member agency. He believes that at the time of those assurances, the United Way board was already discussing the inclusivenesss policy that would affect the Scouts.

United Way attorneys, however, contend the inclusiveness policy was no secret to the Weinbergs. "The Weinbergs knew about the United Way nondiscrimination policy before they made their pledge, and certainly knew before their contribution was fully funded, and yet they proceeded with their monthly payroll contributions to United Way regardless," court documents say.

Solomon said she has not read the lawsuit and declined to comment on it. But she did say, "Agency funding is never automatic or guaranteed by any one person -- it is always a committee process. That is the case with all United Ways.

"It is my hope that Mr. and Mrs. Weinberg can work with United Way to resolve their differences so United Way can continue to do their work in the community."

The nondiscrimination policy

The policy that added "sexual orientation" to the anti-discrimination list of race, religion, creed and gender was adopted as the result of a United Way task force study, said Ventura attorney Glenn Dickinson, who is representing United Way in the lawsuit.

"The study included input from many points of view, including member agencies and other affected persons," Dickinson said.

The policy was adopted in June 2001 but did not affect Community Care funding in fiscal year 2002-2003, Dickinson said. The Scouts weren't affected until July 1, 2003.

In 2002-2003, the Boy Scouts received a little more than $50,000 from the Community Care Fund.

"It's true that $50,000 is a small part of our budget, which is over $1 million," said Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks, president of the Boy Scouts of America's Ventura County Council. "But it's still serious money. Fortunately, other fund-raising efforts have been successful by people who rallied to support the Scouts after hearing they were losing funding from a historical source, United Way."

Smith, however, said United Way directors have twice offered to continue to fund the Scouts at $50,000 a year, even though it is no longer a member agency. United Way only stipulated that the money go to a Scouts program called "Learning for Life" and not mainstream Scouting activities.

"Learning for Life" Director Alan Smith said it is a secular, school-based program that teaches young people citizenship, sharing and problem solving, and information on careers such as law enforcement and health care.

The program is administered separately from the Scouts and has its own membership policy, which does not conflict with United Way's inclusiveness policy.

"The feeling on our board is that taking money with strings attached is not in the best interests of the Scouts," Brooks said. "However, we still want to have a good relationship with their (United Way) board. We believe they are doing positive things in the community. ... There is no hostility or blame on decisions made by two separate boards."

Smith said people who contribute to United Way can continue to specify that their money go to the Boy Scouts, and it will be delivered to them.

"Our interest always has been to maintain a good relationship with the Boy Scouts," Smith said. "It's in both our interests to find a common ground over this philosophical difference."

WellPoint drops United Way

The Weinbergs want the court to order United Way to determine how much money in excess of 15 percent was deducted from the Community Care Fund for administrative expenses, beginning with calendar year 2001, and to distribute that money to agencies including the Boy Scouts.

Asked what it would take to drop the lawsuit, Denny responded, "If they're willing to come clean with the public, calculate how much money the agencies didn't get and roll back the inclusiveness policy. We are not asking for money. All we want is for United Way to be accountable to the public, its donors and agencies."

The relationship between United Way of Ventura County and WellPoint Health Networks Inc. has been strained, although Denny said it is not connected to the lawsuit.

Last year, WellPoint employees donated $2.1 million to charity, and the WellPoint Foundation matched 50 percent of that to bring the amount above $3 million, said company spokesman Ken Ferber. The full amount was collected, managed and disbursed locally and nationally by United Way of Ventura County. A total of $786,963 was designated for the local United Way's fund-raising campaign.

This year, WellPoint dropped United Way as its fiscal agent, Ferber said. Instead, it hired an outside firm, although employees had the option of selecting United Way as one of their designated charities.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: unitedway
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Hopefully this is a trend ...
1 posted on 11/20/2003 9:07:04 AM PST by 11th_VA
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To: 11th_VA
Good for them!

I loath their annual extortion drives.
2 posted on 11/20/2003 9:11:35 AM PST by TSgt (I am proudly featured on U.S. Rep Rob Portman's homepage: http://www.house.gov/portman/)
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To: 11th_VA
Hopefully this is a trend ...

Hopefully it's not. You don't like the United Way? Don't give them your money! Don't expand the trend to abuse the court system for every little bump in life.

If ever there was a frivolous law suit, this is it.

3 posted on 11/20/2003 9:12:58 AM PST by jimkress (America has become Soviet Union Lite)
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To: 11th_VA
Hopefully this is a trend ...

Hopefully what's a trend?

Abusing the court system in an attempt to force a private entity to do something that the Boy Scouts themselves aren't complaining about?

4 posted on 11/20/2003 9:15:11 AM PST by gdani
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To: jimkress
Apparently WellPoint was promised that expenses would run 15%, contributed $3 million, and saw expenses of $786,963, ont $450,000.

The Boy Scout issue aside, an overrun of $336,963 on $3 million is more than a little bump. I’m sure Ventura County charities could find uses for $336,963.

5 posted on 11/20/2003 9:19:20 AM PST by SJackson
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To: gdani
>>>>Abusing the court system in an attempt to force a private entity to do something that the Boy Scouts themselves aren't complaining about?<<<<<

I remember a fella that said his daughter was an atheist (not true), but he went on to try and remove "Under God" from our national pledge - BTW his daughter was not complaining about THAT either, yet the socialist-atheistic 9th circuit picked up that charge....

"Abusing the Court System" is, I think, in the eyes of the beholder..these folks have EVERY RIGHT to sue the United way, if I donated large amounts to them...I'd join in. I recommend a class action lawsuit againts this socialist-atheistic organization...
6 posted on 11/20/2003 9:34:36 AM PST by Roughneck (9 out of 10 TERRORISTS PREFER DEMOCRATS, the rest prefer Saddam Hussein)
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To: Roughneck
"...the socialist-atheistic 9th circuit..."

You just hit on an important item. By filing suit in the West, this case will never get beyond the local level. And most likely, it will get tossed by a liberal judge that sides with the United Way and all the other pro-gay organizations.

7 posted on 11/20/2003 9:37:36 AM PST by TommyDale
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To: 11th_VA
"United Way nondiscrimination policy ...."

The nondiscrimination policy discriminates against the Boy Scouts.

8 posted on 11/20/2003 9:45:04 AM PST by gatex
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To: gdani
"Abusing" the court system is now part of our legislative process.
9 posted on 11/20/2003 9:48:05 AM PST by kimoajax
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To: 11th_VA; All
Here's how it works: One nonprofit gets money from United Way for providing services for 800 clients. The chumps (those who donate to United way) think "that's great, it a good use of my charity money."

But here's the catch.

All the non-profits have an informal agreement with each other to refer to each other. It started with good intentions, but when the numbers started justifying the cash, it became a crutch.

The liberal nonprofits have to work together as fewer and fewer people use their "services."

They pass "clients" around.

That way 10 or 15 organizations can claim the same 800 people. United Way puts out a statement saying your millions have helped 12,000 deserving people. What they don't tell you is that it's the same 800 people counted by many organizations. It's an outrage that's not covered by the likes of "60 Minutes," or NBC, ABC, etc., because United Way's a liberal icon. And they don't investigate their own.

When will FOX News start an investigative magazine to look at outrages never covered by the liberal press? Hannity? Anyone? O'Reilly

10 posted on 11/20/2003 10:05:35 AM PST by GOPJ
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To: gdani
The Boy Scouts sued United Way in Fla. for their donation this year and won.
11 posted on 11/20/2003 10:11:34 AM PST by AIC
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To: jimkress
Starve 'em!

I got sick and tired of the arm-twisters at my employers AND the local United Gay's reply to my letter asking about the Scouts issue. I sent a "nice" letter to my personnel department indicating that they needed to remove my payroll deduct to UG as I did NOT want to contribute to an organization that expects me to "send my son on camping trips with men who love men".

A whimper'd "OK" came back...

12 posted on 11/20/2003 10:36:40 AM PST by Johnny Crab
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To: 11th_VA
Smith said people who contribute to United Way can continue to specify that their money go to the Boy Scouts, and it will be delivered to them.

BWA-HA-HAA! Nice try.

13 posted on 11/20/2003 10:42:46 AM PST by Timesink (I'm not a big fan of electronic stuff, you know? Beeps ... beeps freak me out. They're bad.)
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To: 11th_VA
Never give to the left-wings thugs at United Way or the Red Cross.
14 posted on 11/20/2003 12:25:46 PM PST by moyden2000
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To: gdani
Abusing the court system in an attempt to force a private entity to do something that the Boy Scouts themselves aren't complaining about?"

It's an absolute outrage what local United Way orgs in some cities are doing to the Boy Scouts, but too many of the boy scout councils are intimidated by the political correctness to put up a fight about it.

That's what happened here in Austin, TX. UW and Boy Scouts joined hands and said it was a wonderful thing that United Way would stop funding the boy scouts which does so much good. Not a peep about whether the 'inclusiveness policy' should even be questioned. So UW which funds AIDS groups, drug rehab, women's shelters, and all sorts of 'special case' charities, wont help the boy scouts because they wont allow gay scoutmasters ... The cognitive dissonance is beyond belief.

I was sickened that the boy scout council cravenly gave in to this.
15 posted on 11/20/2003 12:26:21 PM PST by WOSG (The only thing that will defeat us is defeatism itself)
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To: Johnny Crab
It never hurts to make known *why* you are doing it, although it is more effective to send it to your United Way local organization heads rather than your own HR.
16 posted on 11/20/2003 12:27:32 PM PST by WOSG (The only thing that will defeat us is defeatism itself)
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To: 11th_VA
Alright! This is a good start.
17 posted on 11/20/2003 12:36:26 PM PST by Rummyfan
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To: SJackson
So what? They lied to you, don't give them any more money!

These people incurred NO HARM from their gifts to UW. Their lawsuit is frivolous. It's a waste of our money and it only serves to further extend the putrid, corrupting tentacles of the legal 'profession' deeper into our lives.

Only a lawyer would want this case to proceed because only lawyers will benefit from it.
18 posted on 11/20/2003 1:23:41 PM PST by jimkress (America has become Soviet Union Lite)
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To: jimkress
You are missing the point. The claim is the donations were taken under false pretenses therefore the suit is entirely justified. It is essentially a claim of breach of contract by the organization. Such claims are routinely adjudicated by the courts.
19 posted on 11/20/2003 2:05:54 PM PST by justshutupandtakeit (America's Enemies foreign and domestic agree: Bush must be destroyed.)
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To: justshutupandtakeit
The claim is the donations were taken under false pretenses therefore the suit is entirely justified. It is essentially a claim of breach of contract by the organization. Such claims are routinely adjudicated by the courts.

Assuming the plaintiffs are correct (and we don't know if they are) about the administrative expenses being 20% instead of 15%, there's no mention of whether the "agreement" was an oral one or a written contract.

In the article there is also no mention of the legal claims the plaintiffs are making (breach of contract, etc) in their suit.

It also doesn't say how exactly the plaintiffs arrived at the 20% figure. That's not info (i.e. the budget for one project or one donor) that would be available to the general public.

20 posted on 11/20/2003 2:27:29 PM PST by gdani
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