The Unionized Workers at the Southern Poverty Law Center Demand the CEO’s Removal After Deception, Union-Busting Layoffs, and Failures of Leadership

A majority of the SPLC Union staff express no confidence in CEO Margaret Huang: Union cites deceit, legal liabilities, and disregard for the organization’s mission

Sept. 9, 2024, MONTGOMERY, AL - A majority of the SPLC Union bargaining unit presented a demand to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) Board of Directors to remove CEO Margaret Huang after a vote of no confidence in her leadership, following conflicting justifications presented to SPLC Boards and donors for recent layoffs, exposure of the organization to legal liability, and union-busting targeting SPLC Union leadership and organizers. On Aug. 30, 2024, SPLC Union Officers of the Washington-Baltimore News Guild wrote to the SPLC Board of Directors to inform them that a majority of bargaining unit staff voted on a motion of no confidence. 90% of those voting, representing a majority of the unit, expressed that they “lack confidence in Margaret Huang and want SPLC to find a new CEO.”

On Friday, Sept. 6, Board Chair Karen Baynes-Dunning denied the Union’s request. Instead of engaging with the Union, Baynes-Dunning sent a dispassionate email in response, saying “[Board members] unanimously reaffirm our approval of this strategic direction and unanimously support Margaret Huang’s ongoing leadership as President & CEO.”

This result of the vote is not surprising: Even before SPLC announced layoffs, staff expressed alarmingly low confidence and trust in SPLC leadership in multiple organization-wide surveys. In surveys conducted by SPLC’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion department shortly before layoffs, most staff said they did not trust or have faith in SPLC leadership. In 2022, only 49% of staff had confidence in leadership, which fell to 44% in 2024.

Lisa Wright, SPLC Union Chair whom SPLC targeted for layoff after 23+ years at the organization, said: “From the start, the Board's lack of engagement with our Union has made them complacent and complicit in all harm Huang and her leadership team create. We believe Baynes-Dunning hired Huang in 2020 to bust our Union. Huang has a proven track record of hostility toward unionization. The layoffs have been riddled with inconsistencies, errors, and confusion. We’ve filed multiple grievances regarding contract violations, some of which we expect to progress to arbitration and possibly litigation. SPLC still hasn’t laid out a clear plan for transitioning casework of attorneys they laid off. Union members learned Huang represented to the 501(c)(4) board that layoffs were due to a ‘$13 million deficit’ in the (c)(3) budget while representing to the (c)(3) Board and Union that layoffs were not financially motivated, and were instead for strategic purposes. Huang either lied to our Union and the (c)(3) Board, or she lied to the (c)(4) Board. Huang also misrepresented the scope of layoffs to the (c)(3) Board. SPLC tells donors immigration work will continue, despite laying off more than 50 employees doing that work  and having no way to continue working with existing community partners.”

Given the bargaining unit’s overwhelming lack of confidence in Huang’s leadership, SPLC Union Officers demand the Board (1) remove Margaret Huang as CEO; (2) bargain with our Union to reverse layoffs for affected staff who choose to stay; and (3) involve our Union in finding, interviewing, and hiring a new CEO. Margaret Huang has at best misled and, at worst, deceived donors, the Boards of Directors, and the Union; exposed SPLC to liability; and alienated and disrespected the opinions and expertise of staff. We need a new CEO to right these wrongs and provide responsible, accountable leadership to this storied civil rights organization.

The SPLC Union is disrupting white supremacy, pursuing equity, building solidarity, and uniting workers at the

Southern Poverty Law Center and across the Deep South.

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