Michael Barbaro, New York Times
- The head of a prominent nonprofit group in the city claims she was fired in retaliation for endorsing Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg for re-election, according to a lawsuit filed against the group on Wednesday.
Joyce S. Johnson, the chief executive of the Black Equity Alliance, asserted in the suit, filed in State Supreme Court, that before she was fired, several board members scolded her for endorsing the mayor without their consent.
Such an endorsement, board members told her, could jeopardize the group’s nonprofit status, which prohibits political endorsements.
A spokesperson for the Black Equity Alliance, which was founded in 2003 to support human services, religious-based and community development organizations that work with African-Americans, did not return telephone messages on Wednesday. The board of the organization includes Rudy Crew, who was New York City schools chancellor during the Giuliani administration and is named as a defendant in the suit.
