Feed The Children board fires founder Larry Jones
Larry Jones’ firing comes after admitting he authorized hidden microphones in offices
BY NOLAN CLAY
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Published: November 7, 2009
Feed The Children President Larry Jones was fired Friday from the charity he founded 30 years ago. He plans to sue to try to get his job back.
The charity’s board of directors voted to terminate Jones’ employment "effective immediately.” The directors did not give a reason. The charity paid Jones $230,323 a year, records show. "There’s going to be thousands of children go hungry this Christmas because of what they did,” Jones, 69, told The Oklahoman. The firing came after Jones admitted to the charity’s investigator and to police that he authorized the installation of hidden microphones in three executives’ offices last April. "I did nothing wrong there. … I knew what the law was… They used wiretapping as the excuse,” Jones said Friday. Jones has been the face of the Oklahoma City-based Christian relief organization. It reports collecting more than $1 billion in donations a year. He and his wife, Frances, were the main fundraisers, making repeated, often heart-wrenching televised pleas for money to help starving children in Africa and elsewhere. The charity has become widely known through the commercials and from celebrities’ support. Frances Jones was not fired. "This is the best two months of the year to raise money, and we’re down like everybody else is down. There’s more hungry children than ever, and they fire me,” Larry Jones said. "I was in such shock,” he said. "I thought they had enough foresight to see that this is by far the best time of the year to raise money. … This makes absolutely no sense — none at all. Already, people are calling, saying, "Larry, if you’re not at Feed The Children, we’re not going to do these projects.’ … Thirty years of hard work down the drain.” Jones said Friday he thinks directors fired him because he got a judge on Thursday to temporarily bar them from using charity funds to pay legal fees.
Leadership turmoil
Jones has been in a legal dispute with most of the charity’s board and top executives over who is really in charge there. A lawsuit about the power struggle was settled in August when Jones agreed to give up operational control.
Those at odds with Jones include his own daughter, Larri Sue Jones, who is Feed The Children’s general counsel.
Jones last December had several directors removed from the board. He had his daughter and other top executives fired. He acted after discovering they planned to force him to take a sabbatical.
A judge later reinstated most of the ousted directors and the executives.
Jones in April had hidden microphones installed in the offices of his daughter, the chief financial officer and the chief operating officer before they returned to their jobs, according to two of his attorneys.
Oklahoma City police became involved Aug. 19 after a private investigator found "remnants of wiretapping devices” in the ceilings of the three offices. The owner of the company that installed the microphones told police his employees never could get a recorder to work.
In Oklahoma, it is legal to secretly record one’s own conversations. It is illegal to bug offices to eavesdrop on others. Prosecutors have not made a decision yet on whether Jones will be charged.
Jones only intended to record his own conversations when he was in those offices, his attorneys said.
The executives in the past had misrepresented Jones’ comments when they would relate his remarks to others, said one attorney, David Ogle, who specializes in criminal defense cases. "Everything was set up to protect Larry … because of the misrepresentations,” Ogle said. "There’s absolutely no indication that anything was done illegal by Larry Jones. … Internally, there was a plan to squeeze Larry Jones out. This was a self-defense mechanism.”
Jones on Tuesday passed a polygraph test about his intentions about the recording, Ogle also said. The test was done by a retired FBI agent.
Jones will file a wrongful termination lawsuit next week in Oklahoma County District Court, said another attorney, Mark Hammons.
Hammons said Jones cannot be fired over the microphone issue unless he is convicted of a felony for it. The attorney contended the firing is a breach of Jones’ employment contract. The attorney said Jones will ask in his lawsuit to be reinstated or to be compensated for the contract breach.
Hammons sent a letter to Feed The Children on Friday, after the dismissal, demanding directors remove Jones’ name, likeness and voice from all advertisements.
"The posters using Mr. Jones’ name and likeness must be removed and all stationery, billboards, buses, trucks or other things which bear Mr. Jones’ name or likeness must be withdrawn,” Hammons wrote. "All of these actions must be taken immediately.”
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Something stinketh here!! How in the world can one extract a precious $5, $10, $15, $25 from people in the economy like this (and praise God if those individuals give unto the Lord because He will reward), and ask for money as though DESPERATELY needed ---- but NOT desperately enough to skim down that abominable, lucerous amount of $230,323 per month.
This is quite shocking. But then again, it seems to be happening in other places. Watch out for Bless An Orphan, as they too are skimming --- well right now, taking ALL of the moneys designated for Christ Church orphanage for the past 2 years, and putting the funds "elsewhere".
This is NOT the ministry that the Lord calls us to. And what are the others at Feed The Children making??
Is this not perhaps the deception and THEFT for which the Lord is judging this nation, starting with those who call themselves Christians??
Believers, beware, and ask the Lord for discernment in this final hour!!
Looks very bad for him!!!!! Not just on IRS matters but so many others i.e. wiretaps, personal perks, ($125,000 from FTC's coffers to "care" for the orphan they adopted) etc.
Best hope for FTC is to put as much distance from him as possible.
If it is true that the Feed the Children collective Board/staff/auditors (Many of whom are still connected.)chose not pay taxes to the state of Oklahoma and possibly other governmental bodies then they should preform an immediate multi-year audit using better firms than were hired and paid over the past 7-8 years. If they the auditors missed the taxes it is easy to believe other important issues were missed or ignored as well. If they do it now and properly quickly blame former management, auditors, and some current hangers on for documented wrong doing then the organization's leadership may have a better future than if they don't.
He looks like a typical shyster, and I'm sure in true evangelical fashion, he's got more skeletons in his closet than the average person.
This guy is (and will always remain) a money whore, all the while hiding behind the cloak of "doing good for others" and Christianity.....may he rot in whatever dark corner of hell is reserved for snake oil salesmen like him..........
You say the board fired you because YOU convinced the judge not to pay their legal fees? That excuse is WEAK!!! VERY WEAK!!!! Why?? Because the board months ago wanted you to take a sabbatical so you attempted a "coup" to replace them with your buddies. But, the Judge threw you out of court and it didn't work and the original board got stuck with the legal bills for your "coup". Man, you should pay their legal bills, that is if you have any money that didn't come from your phony appeals for "hungry children".
You say they fired you because of the wire-taps" and you claim they weren't illegal?
Now come on Larry, if you're telling the truth and all you wanted to do legally was record your own conversations with the 3 key officers you "bugged" to protect yourself-why didn't you just put a recorder on your own phone and/or carry a concealed tape recorder with you when you were in meetings with them?? Got an answer for that????? The police aren't stupid and they along with the DA are gonna get you.
And now you have approved your lawyers demand to remove all your pictures etc.from FTC stuff. Hey man, lots of great employees and wonderful donors MADE FTC-not you. All you did was screw it up! To me Larry you're sounding like a very un-Christian, vindictive person and you should be ashamed!!
Quit making excuses that don't make sense and stop blaming others! You did all this to yourself and drug your family, trusting donors and employees into an inferno!!
And, stop using your worn-out "hungry children" phrase to gain sympathy. Trust me, the children will survive as they can live without your truckloads of bottled water, soda pop etc. that you count as food.
The caring folks in this world will now give their donations to "reputable, accountable" humanitarian organizations and the children will be truly served!
Be a MAN Larry and take your medicine! And by the way-since you never, ever express pain about what they have gone through-your own family is paying an unbelievably heavy price for your ego. Stop abusing them!!!!!
No man is bigger than God. Take a look in the mirror and see the real real reason people don't want to work with Feed The Children.
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