Feed The Children president Larry Jones fired

In a statement, the charity's board of directors said his dismissal was effective immediately.

His attorney said Jones will file a wrongful termination lawsuit. The attorney said Jones will ask a judge to either reinstate him or compensate him for the board's breach of his employment contract.

The board did not disclose in its statement why Jones was fired. His attorney said Jones was dismissed over his decision last April to place hidden microphones in three executives' offices.

Jones has denied wrongdoing, insisting he only intended to record his own conversations with executives who had twisted his statements before. The owner of the company that installed the microphones told police the recorder never worked and the microphones were later removed.

Oklahoma City police became involved Aug. 19 after a private investigator found remnants of the devices in the ceilings. Under Oklahoma law, it is legal to secretly record your own conversations. It is illegal to bug offices to eavesdrop on others.

Jones made the charity widely recognized through his often heart-wrenching pleas for funds to feed starving children in Africa and elsewhere. The charity reports it collects more than $1 billion in donations a year.

He has been in a power struggle with most of the board for the past year.