A three-judge panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals heard oral arguments May 7 on whether a 2023 decision by a D.C. Superior Court judge dismissing a lawsuit against seven of the eight former board members of the now-defunct Casa Ruby LGBTQ community services center should be overturned.

The Wanda Alston Foundation, an LGBTQ youth housing services group that assumed control over the operations of Casa Ruby in August 2022 under a court appointed receivership role, filed its lawsuit against the former board members in December 2022 under the Casa Ruby name.

It accuses them of violating D.C.’s nonprofit corporations’ law by failing to “hold regular meetings/or maintain official records – thereby exercising no oversight or governance over the organization.” 

Among other things, the lawsuit said the former board members failed to take steps to prevent Casa Ruby’s founder and former executive director, Ruby Corado, from embezzling large sums of Casa Ruby funds for personal use.

Corado, who was arrested in March 2024 on multiple embezzlement related charges, pleaded guilty in July 2024 to a single charge of wire fraud under a plea agreement with prosecutors. She is scheduled to be sentenced on July 29, 2025.

The lawsuit called on the court to require Corado and the former board members to pay “restitution, compensatory damages, punitive damages, receivership fees and expenses, court costs, attorneys’ fees and expenses and any other relief the court deems necessary and proper.”

In May 2023, at the request of defense attorneys, D.C. Superior Court Judge Danya A. Dayson dismissed the lawsuit against seven of the eight former board members but did not dismiss the case against Corado and one of the board members who allegedly received improper financial benefits from Corado.

Dayson stated in her dismissal decision that it was based on her interpretation of a D.C. law that members of an organization’s board of directors can only be held liable for harming an organization like Casa Ruby if they “intentionally, rather than negligently, inflicted harm on Casa Ruby.”

According to Dayson, the law in question also says board members can be held responsible for harming an organization if a “board member intentionally violated a criminal law or that the board member received some amount of money to which they were not entitled.” She states in her decision that the Alston Foundation lawsuit did not provide sufficient evidence that the seven board members committed those types of violations.

Attorneys for the Alston Foundation disputed Dayson’s interpretation of the law in their initial legal brief filed before the D.C. Court of Appeals in February 2024. Among other things, the brief argued that the Alston Foundation’s Third Interim Report in its role as Casa Ruby receiver provides sufficient evidence that the former board members are legally liable for harming Casa Ruby.

That and follow-up briefs and their oral arguments at the May 7, 2025, hearing state that the appeals court can find that the former board members “were deliberately indifferent’ or ‘willfully blind’ to the alleged wrongful conduct of the nonprofit’s executive director amounting to actual knowledge on their part that inaction would harm the non-profit, ultimately and forcibly leading to its financial inability to continue operating.”

A follow-up brief filed by Alston Foundation attorney Theodore Howard argues that the former board members violated Casa Ruby’s by-laws by conducting only one board meeting in six years.

According to the brief, that “allowed Ms. Corado to maintain complete authority over the organization, including by allowing her to unilaterally appoint new Board members” and allowed her “to maintain sole control over Casa Ruby’s bank and financial accounts, even after Ms. Corado cut off access to those accounts to anyone but herself.”

An opposing brief filed by attorney Marlin Grifith, who is representing former board member Miguel Rivera, states that the decision dismissing the lawsuit correctly interpreted the law pertaining to nonprofit corporations.

“The Superior Court did not err…,” the brief states, adding “there are no facts alleged that support a conclusion of reasonable inference that the individual board members acted with actual knowledge that their inaction would cause harm to the organization.”

Howard, the attorney representing the Alston Foundation in its role as Casa Ruby receiver, said the attorneys on both sides of the case are now waiting for the three-judge appeals court panel to issue their decision. 

If they rule in favor of Casa Ruby/Alston Foundation, the case will be sent back to the Superior Court for further proceedings on the lawsuit, Howard said. He said negotiations would likely begin for a possible out-of-court settlement.

If the appeals court rules in favor of the former board members by finding they did not intentionally and knowingly inflict harm to Casa Ruby, “then the case, at least as between Casa Ruby [via the Alston Foundation] and the former board of directors, will be over,” Howard said.

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Jim Obergefell will join national LGBTQ organizations and activists, and speak at 12 p.m. in front of the Supreme Court on May 21 to celebrate the 100th birthday of Frank Kameny, one of the founders of the modern LGBTQ civil rights movement. 

City Council members Erik Bottcher (New York City), Rue Landau (Philadelphia), and Zachary Parker (Washington, D.C.) will also speak.

During the demonstration on what would have been Kameny’s 100th birthday, activists will hold 100 candles in front of the Supreme Court. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Obergefell are serving as national honorary co-chairs of the celebration. 

The national event honors Kameny and pushes back on those who would try to render the LGBTQ community invisible, deny their history, and subvert their equality; and celebrates the 10th anniversary of Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court marriage equality decision. 

“Frank Kameny was a strategic activist. He used picketing, politics, the courts, media, and pressure on the federal and municipal governments to fight for equality,” said Malcolm Lazin, National Chair, Kameny 100. “On the 10th anniversary of marriage equality, we’re honored to have as keynote speakers Jim Obergefell and Congressman Ritchie Torres, co-chair, Congressional Equality Caucus.” 

Collaborating national organizations include Advocates for Transgender Equality, The American LGBTQ+ Museum, Equality Forum, GLAAD, HRC, Lambda Legal, LGBT History Month, LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, PFLAG, SAGE, and the Washington Blade. 

 To learn more, visit kameny100.org.

The Washington Blade’s 18th annual Summer Kickoff Party is scheduled for Friday, May 16 in Rehoboth Beach, Del.

Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer has joined the list of speakers, the Blade announced on Tuesday.

The event, held at the Blue Moon (35 Rehoboth Ave.) from 5-7 p.m., is a fundraiser for the Blade Foundation’s Steve Elkins Memorial Fellowship in Journalism, which funds a summer position reporting on LGBTQ news in Delaware. This year’s recipient will be introduced at the event.

The event will also feature remarks from state Sen. Russ Huxtable, who recently introduced a state constitutional amendment to codify the right of same-sex couples to marry. CAMP Rehoboth Executive Director Kim Leisey and Blade editor Kevin Naff will also speak, in addition to surprise guests. The event is generously sponsored by Realtor Justin Noble, The Avenue Inn & Spa, and Blue Moon.

A suggested donation of $20 is partially tax deductible and includes drink tickets and light appetizers. Tickets are available in advance at bladefoundation.org/rehoboth or at the door.