District of Columbia
Casa Ruby receiver appeals decision dismissing lawsuit against former board
Case against founder Ruby Corado continues
The Wanda Alston Foundation, which assumed control over the operations of the D.C. LGBTQ community services group Casa Ruby in August 2022 under a court appointed receivership role, last week filed papers before the D.C. Court of Appeals contesting a May 1, 2023, decision by a D.C. Superior Court judge dismissing a lawsuit against seven of the eight former Casa Ruby board members who the Alston Foundation named as defendants.
The lawsuit, which the Alston Foundation filed Dec. 23, 2022, accuses all eight former Casa Ruby board members of violating D.C.’s nonprofit corporation law by failing to “hold regular meetings and/or maintain official records – thereby exercising no oversight or governance over the organization.”
The lawsuit also names Casa Ruby founder and former executive director Ruby Corado as a defendant who it says is also responsible for Casa Ruby’s downfall.
The Alston Foundation’s lawsuit followed a separate civil complaint filed against Casa Ruby in July 2022 by the Office of the D.C. Attorney General, which alleges that Casa Ruby, under Corado’s leadership, violated the city’s Nonprofit Corporations Act in connection with its financial dealings, including Corado’s alleged unauthorized withdrawal of funds from Casa Ruby.
In a report it released last year, the Alston Foundation said its own investigation into Casa Ruby’s financial records show that Corado allegedly embezzled over $800,000 from the organization, with the board failing to take steps to prevent that from happening.
Corado has denied the allegations against her, saying her withdrawal of funds from Casa Ruby accounts, some of which she said was for her establishing a Casa Ruby outpost in El Salvador, were all approved by the board.
The lawsuit calls 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 her May 2023 decision, D.C. Superior Court Judge Danya A. Dayson dismissed the lawsuit against seven of the eight former Casa Ruby board members but did not dismiss the case against Corado. The judge also did not dismiss the case against former board member Consuella Lopez, citing evidence presented in the lawsuit that Lopez received some financial benefits from Corado.
Lopez didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by the Washington Blade. The other board members have declined requests for comment at the time the lawsuit was filed.
Dayson states in her decision that her dismissal of the lawsuit against the seven board members was based on her interpretation of a D.C. law that says 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.”
The judge states in her ruling that 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.” Dayson states in her ruling that the Alston Foundation lawsuit does not provide sufficient evidence that the seven board members committed those types of violations.
Attorneys with the D.C. law firm Wiley Rein LLP, who are representing the Alston Foundation, dispute the judge’s interpretation of the law. They argue in a 23-page legal brief filed with the D.C. Court of Appeals on Feb. 26 that the Alston Foundation’s Third Interim Report in its role as the Casa Ruby receiver provides sufficient evidence that the former board members are legally liable for harming Casa Ruby.
Their legal brief says based on that report, among other evidence, the court could find that the former board members “were deliberately indifferent or ‘willfully blind’ to the alleged wrongful conduct of the non-profit’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.”
The brief adds that if the judge’s dismissal ruling is upheld, it would have an adverse impact on other nonprofit organizations whose board members fail to adequately oversee the organizations.
“If the Superior Court’s order is allowed to stand, directors could both abdicate these responsibilities and claim not to know that such addiction would have adverse consequences for their organizations with impunity,” it says. “Indeed, such a standard essentially provides non-profit directors with an incentive to engage in a ‘see-no-evil’ hands off approach to their responsibilities under circumstances in which the Nonprofit Corporations Act expressly contemplates the opposite.”
Under court rules, the former board members will be given an opportunity through their attorneys to file a response objecting to the Alston Foundation’s appeal of the dismissal ruling.
District of Columbia
D.C. bar, LGBTQ+ Community Center to mark Lesbian Visibility Week
‘Ahead of the Curve’ documentary screening, ‘Queeroke’ among events
2026 Lesbian Visibility Week North America will take place from April 20-26.
This year marks the third annual Lesbian Visibility Week, run by the Curve Foundation. A host of events take place from April 20-26.
This year’s theme is Health and Wellness. For the Curve Foundation, the term “lesbian” serves as an umbrella term for a host of identities, including lesbians, bisexual and transgender women, and anyone else connected to the lesbian community.
The week kicks off with a flag-raising ceremony on April 19. It will take place in New York, but will be livestreamed for the public.
“Queeroke” is one of the events being held around the country. It will take place at various participating bars on April 23.
As You Are, an LGBTQ bar in Capitol Hill, is one of eight locations across the U.S. participating. Their event is free and 21+.
On April 24, the D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center will hold a screening of “Ahead of the Curve,” a documentary about the founder of Curve, Franco Stevens. The event is free with an RSVP.
April 25, is Queer Women in Sports Day. And on April 26, several monuments in New York will be illuminated.
Virtual events ranging from health to sports will be made available to the public. Details will be released closer to the start of Lesbian Visibility Week. Featured events can be found on the official website.
Some ways for individuals to get involved are to use #LVW26 and tag the official Lesbian Visibility Week account on social media posts. People are encouraged to display their lesbian flags, and businesses can hand out pins and decorate. They can also reach out to local lawmakers to encourage them to issue an official Lesbian Visibility Week.
District of Columbia
Whitman-Walker Health to present ‘Pro Bono Excellence’ award to law firm
Health center set to celebrate 40th anniversary of legal services program
Whitman-Walker Health, the D.C.-based community healthcare center that specializes in HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ-related health services, announced it will present its annual Dale Edwin Sanders Award for Pro Bono Excellence to the international law firm McDermott Will & Schulte at a May 6 ceremony.
“This year’s award is especially significant as it coincides with the 40th anniversary of Whitman-Walker Health’s Legal Services Program, marking it as the nation’s longest running medical-legal partnership,” a statement released by Whitman-Walker says.
“As a national leader in public health, Whitman-Walker celebrates our partnership with McDermott to strengthen the health center and to enable Whitman-Walker to reach more medical and legal clients,” the statement adds.
“McDermott’s firm-wide commitment to Whitman-Walker’s medical-legal partnership demonstrates a shared vision to serve those most in need,” Amy Nelson, Whitman-Walker’s director of Legal Services, says in the statement. “Our work protects individuals and families who face discrimination and hostility as they navigate increasingly complex administrative systems,” Nelson said.
“Pro bono legal services – like that of McDermott Will & Schulte – find solutions for people who have no place else to turn in the face of financial and health threats,” she added.
“Our partnership with Whitman-Walker Health is a treasured commitment to serving our neighbors and communities,” Steven Schnelle, one of the law firm’s partners said in the statement. “We are deeply moved by Whitman-Walker’s unwavering dedication to inclusion, respect, and equitable access to health care and social services,” he said.
The statement notes that the award for Pro Bono Excellence honors the legacy of the late gay attorney Dale Edwin Sanders. It says Sanders’s pro bono legal work for Whitman-Walker clients “shaped HIV/AIDS law for more than four decades by securing key victories on behalf of individuals whose employment and patient rights were violated.”
It says the Whitman-Walker Legal Services program began during the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s at a time when people with AIDS faced widespread discrimination and often needed legal assistance. According to the statement, the program evolved over the years and expanded to advocate for transgender people and immigrants.
Whitman-Walker spokesperson Lisa Amore said the presentation of the Dale Edwin Sanders Pro Bono Excellency Award will be held at the May 6 fundraising benefit for Whitman-Walker’s Legal Services Program. She said the event will take place at the offices of the DC law firm Baker McKenzie and ticket availability can be accessed here: https://www.whitman-walker.org/gtem-2026/
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
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