What Happened to Outfest? Ex-Executive Director Sues Film Festival

After a season of upheaval and inside battle, Outfest has been sued by its former govt director for defamation, harassment and discrimination.

Damien Navarro, in a lawsuit filed on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court docket, claims he repeatedly warned Outfest’s board of administrators, a number of of whom blamed him for its collapse, of the group’s dire monetary state of affairs however that it refused to take motion. He alleges that some board members engaged in a marketing campaign to discredit and take away him as the pinnacle of the movie pageant in retaliation for elevating issues of discrimination.

“As the primary particular person of colour to steer Outfest, I anticipated a spot of belonging and shared values,” Navarro says. “As an alternative, I encountered systemic racism, self-dealing, and retaliation that undermined not simply my management however the very mission of the group.”

In a press release, Outfest denied the “baseless and malicious claims.” It added, “Sadly, throughout Mr. Navarro’s management, the Outfest Board determined that it was within the group’s greatest curiosity to usher in a brand new govt director. We stay dedicated to this determination as one of the best plan of action for the group and sit up for resolving this matter in authorized proceedings.”

Outfest — the long-running Los Angeles LGTBQ movie pageant as soon as seen as a fixture within the indie cinema circuit — collapsed final yr when it laid off almost all of its employees after some introduced plans to unionize. Amid ongoing monetary turbulence, it postponed the Legacy Awards, its marquee gala fundraiser that usually noticed a collection of excessive profile Hollywood expertise honored. This coincided with Navarro, whose contract was not renewed final yr, stepping apart for a go away of absence, which he tells The Hollywood Reporter was to permit for a “full, unbiased investigation” of issues he raised of discrimination and harassment that he was allegedly subjected to by a number of board members.

In an electronic mail to donors despatched in October, Outfest administrators stated the state of affairs is “dire” whereas hinting at mismanagement.

“Just lately the Board of Administrators was compelled to take over daily operations of the group and we found large quantities of undisclosed debt that had been hidden from the Board,” the message stated, earlier than including that “Outfest is in critical monetary jeopardy and urgently wants to boost $750,000.”

Within the lawsuit, Navarro argues the e-mail defamed him by claiming that there have been undisclosed money owed hidden from the board, making him a “pariah within the business.” He alleges that Outfest’s bleak monetary image began lengthy earlier than he began as govt director in 2019 and that he implored the board to deal with these points a number of occasions, solely to be made a “scape goat for [its] personal malfeasance.”

The lawsuit says Navarro inherited a corporation with over $250,000 in debt and years of declining membership and ticket gross sales, which was exacerbated by a number of unexpected components, together with the COVID-19 pandemic, elevated prices as a consequence of new California labor legal guidelines and rising venue bills. Inside his first 18 months as head of Outfest, Navarro eradicated the debt and considerably elevated income, he claims. Nonetheless, the group confronted a looming funds deficit (anticipated to succeed in $300,000 by March 2023) and money circulate points that will necessitate employees layoffs, in accordance with the criticism.

However the board elected to “undertake no motion regardless of more and more dire monetary studies,” Navarro alleges. He factors to management’s refusal to scale back the employees, allegedly to “keep away from unfavourable publicity” in the course of the writers and actors strikes. At a March 2023 assembly, Navarro emphasised the funds crunch with reserves ample to cowl payroll via Might solely to be ignored, the lawsuit claims. In a letter to the board he despatched the following month, he wrote, “Outfest must handle its bills rigorously to satisfy its monetary obligations,” in accordance with the criticism.

“Navarro stored Board members up to date in regards to the group’s funds at each step of the best way – with the Board taking no motion to shore up receipts or scale back bills,” writes Rob Hennig, his lawyer, within the submitting.

Board members’ duties to the group embody elevating or donating no less than $10,000 yearly to Outfest. Navarro alleges the vast majority of the board “constantly failed” to satisfy this threshold, with board member Alexis Fish allegedly refusing to fundraise in any respect. Over the previous two years, solely 30 p.c of the board met the minimal requirement, leading to a funds shortfall of roughly $500,000, the lawsuit claims.

Moreover, the criticism particulars a collection of clashes between Navarro and a number of board members over alleged harassment and discrimination. In 2022, he raised quite a few issues of Outfest’s allegedly discriminatory practices affecting Latinos, in addition to one which included himself. This prompted board members, together with Fish and Valerie Stadler— all of whom are named within the criticism — to provoke a “marketing campaign of retaliation” aimed toward undermining his management, the lawsuit claims. Some alleged examples: inciting employees in opposition to Navarro by spreading false rumors of his imminent termination, excluding him from board conferences and launching frivolous investigation into alleged improper habits. This included a probe into his husband, who’s not part of Outfest, allegedly flirting with an actor at an occasion and alleged discrimination by Navarro in opposition to feminine and Black employees members. Third celebration investigations into the incidents from the Fromholz agency discovered no fault, Navarro claims.

“The investigations in opposition to me was initiated in response to allegations that have been unfounded and retaliatory in nature,” Navarro says. “The agency discovered no proof of discriminatory therapy on my half.”

The lawsuit stresses that the board failed to research Navarro’s claims of discrimination or harassment.

Additionally detailed within the criticism are allegations of self-dealing by board members. Navarro says Fish repeatedly tried to safe exhibitions of movies she was immediately concerned with and had a monetary stake in at Outfest, together with a documentary about Susan Feniger regardless of her allegedly being employed as director of enterprise growth for the chef. In 2022, Stadler approached him to point out a film by which she was an govt producer on the opening evening of Outfest. In response to the overtures, Navarro raised issues about conflicts of curiosity.

In August 2023, the board voted to not renew Navarro’s contract as govt director “in a transparent act of illegal discrimination and retaliation,” the lawsuit alleges. He took a go away of absence in September, 4 months earlier than his contract was set to run out.

Government Director Christopher Racster is at the moment the one worker of the group.

In December, the Los Angeles Occasions reported that Outfest’s collapse was largely as a consequence of mismanagement by Navarro. Responding to claims attributed to nameless sources that he organized with out the board’s approval for the group to pay for actor John Waters’ star on the Hollywood Stroll of Fame, Navarro says that there was “by no means an unauthorized deal” and that the settlement was made “transparently with the board’s data.”

He additionally denied allegations that he stored board members in the dead of night about using a $700,000 property present Outfest acquired. “All expenditures associated to the grant have been correctly documented and reported, and the board was repeatedly up to date on how the funds have been getting used,” he provides. “Any claims of misuse or lack of transparency aren’t true, as all monetary selections have been made in alignment with Outfest’s mission and targets, with full oversight from the finance committee.”