The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has had to deal with a lot of phonies lately.
First it was Rachel Dolezal, the white Spokane NAACP chapter president who has lied for years about being black. Now it’s the Cincinnati branch of the storied civil rights organization.
NAACP’s national office has filed a lawsuit against Ishton Morton, Beverly Morton and Lettie Reid seeking $300,000 for trademark infringement, false advertising, fraud and conspiracy.
The NAACP, which is based in Baltimore, claims in the lawsuit, filed Tuesday, that the trio are not officially sanctioned and “are involved in a scheme to deceive the public.”
Ishton Morton took over as the Cincinnati branch’s president last January. The chapter was recognized at the time, but a series of legal battles and a controversy over board elections during Morton’s tenure led to its charter being revoked. The national office filed suit against the Cincinnati branch in December claiming that its leaders suppressed the vote during a leadership election. A Hamilton County judge found probable cause for voter suppression and halted the election.
That election carried great significance. With the NAACP holding its annual convention in Cincinnati in 2016, the chapter president will hold enormous power. The gathering will also be held during the same week as the Republican National Convention, which will convene in Cleveland.
In its complaint, reported by Courthouse News, the NAACP said that the Cincinnati group engaged in “illegal behavior” and that the leaders have held unauthorized meetings. They have also “refused to turn over the financial records, bank records, and bank account documents…belonging to the NAACP and its authorized, unincorporated Cincinnati Branch,” according to the complaint.
Ishton Morton and Reid, who is listed on the organization’s website as vice-president, “illegally” added their names to four bank accounts “of the authorized, unincorporated Cincinnati Branch of the NAACP,” the complaint says.
Even after having their memberships suspended, the rogue group spent $30,000 that belonged to the NAACP, the complaint continues.
The Mortons and Reid continue to “authorize and utilize funds of the NAACP for impermissible and illegal purposes, operate as if they are a sanctioned branch of the NAACP, and illegally execute contracts in the name of the NAACP,” according to the suit.
Trouble for Ishton Morton began soon after he took over 18 months ago. He was arrested last March after a female member of the executive board said he tried to push her down a flight of stairs during a heated argument. The 68-year-old was acquitted of the charge in December.
A call placed to the Cincinnati group’s office was not answered. A recorded message began: “thank you for calling the Cincinnati branch of the NAACP.”
Emails to NAACP headquarters were not immediately returned. A call placed to the organization’s attorney in Cincinnati was not answered.
The NAACP’s suit comes just weeks after it was forced to deal with a bizarre scandal involving Dolezal. The 37-year-old resigned on June 15 as president of the Spokane branch of the civil rights group after she was found to have misrepresented her race. The national group issued a statement after Dolezal’s forced resignation, but did not condemn her for her years of lying.
“The NAACP is not concerned with the racial identity of our leadership but the institutional integrity of our advocacy. Our focus must be on issues not individuals,” the group said at the time.