Turmoil in Atlanta Branch of NAACP

ATLANTA (CN) - Members of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP have taken a squabble over the group's November elections to Fulton County Superior Court. The class action claims that Ed Dubose, president of the Georgia State NAACP, and others wrongly took charge of the Atlanta chapter's elections to ensure that the Rev. Dr. R.L. White, president of NAACP Atlanta and pastor of Mt. Ephraim Baptist Church, would be re-elected.

White is being investigation for alleged mismanagement and conversion of NAACP Atlanta funds, according to the complaint. It states that "Defendant White has been president of defendant NAACP Atlanta from 1997 2000 [sic] until the present. During this time period, defendant White allowed certain staff members to misappropriate and embezzled over $250,000 from defendant NAACP Atlanta.

"Upon information and belief, these individuals engaged in a scheme or conspiracy from approximately 1999 - 2009 to convert and use funds of defendant NAACP for personal use through the use of facsimile signatures on check, unauthorized transfers of funds, unauthorized use of credit cards and other means."

In September 2009, plaintiff Lonnie King filed an administrative complaint against White and Richard Rose, former treasurer of the Atlanta NAACP, mentioning these allegations and also alleging failure to follow administrative polices of the national NAACP, according to the complaint.

The complaint adds: "Defendant Dubose actively conspired with defendant White and others to stop any investigation into allegations of financial mismanagement by defendant white, et al."

After the administrative complaint was filed, the National NAACP placed NAACP Atlanta into receivership, to be managed by Dr. Amos Brown of San Francisco. It remained in receivership until May 2010. In May, NAACP Atlanta was taken out of receivership to be supervised by Dubose, according to the new complaint in Fulton County.

This complaint states that Dubose was appointed only to receive minutes of meetings, committee reports and financial reports until Dec. 31, 2010. Dubose did not have the authority to interfere with or manage the affairs of the Atlanta chapter, according to the complaint.

But when White's slate of candidates for the November election were not approved, as the slate had not been submitted on time, Dubose took over the election by determining that the Georgia NAACP, rather than the Atlanta NAACP, would supervise the elections, according to the complaint.

The plaintiffs, who include Lonnie King, Michael Julian Bond, Charles Black and Mamie Darlington, seek declaratory judgment that the November election was invalid and violated NAACP bylaws and that the slate of candidates presented in accordance with the bylaws should be declared winners of the election.

In addition to White and DuBose, the NAACP Georgia State Conference and the NAACP Atlanta Branch are also named as defendants.

The plaintiffs are represented by Glenn Delk with Lightmas & Delk.

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