Legal News

The Lady in Wax . . . Gets Sued

By Ashby Jones

Note to self: When the time comes to commission a wax statue in our own likeness, do it with our own hard-earned money (and, of course, when it’s complete, keep it away from open flame.) Use someone else’s money for such a tribute, and you just might wind up in a lawsuit over it.

Alleged Example A: Barbara McKinzie, the international president of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the country’s oldest black sorority. Members of the sorority are suing to remove McKinzie (pictured, left), alleging she spent hundreds of thousands on the group’s money on herself, some of it to pay for a wax statue of herself (pictured, right). Click here for the story, from the Chicago Tribune.

In the suit, filed in Washington, D.C., the Alpha Kappa Alpha members also alleged that McKinzie bought designer clothing, jewelry and lingerie with the sorority credit card. “This is extraordinarily shocking if not illegal conduct,” Edward W. Gray Jr., an attorney representing the plaintiffs suing the Chicago-based sorority, told the Trib.

McKinzie reportedly denied what she called the lawsuit’s “malicious allegations,” saying they were “based on mischaracterizations and fabrications … not befitting our ideals of sisterhood, ethics and service,” according to a statement issued this week by the sorority.

Fine, fine. But can we get back to the wax statue? In the sorority statement, McKinzie said the sorority’s board approved the money to “help defray overall expenses for our 2010 convention.” She said a total of $45,000 was spent on a wax figure of her and the sorority’s first international president, the late Nellie Quander. McKinzie also said the expenses were “consistent with furthering AKA’s mission” and did not violate any of the group’s bylaws.

The lawsuit says $900,000 was spent on the McKinzie wax statue, but Gray said he has since learned the amount was for the two statues. The statues reportedly are to be displayed in the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore, Md., he said.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on July 30, 2009 (boomark / email).