Sasha Suda, who was immediately fired from her position as director and chief govt of the Philadelphia Artwork Museum (PAM) on 4 November, is suing the establishment for alleged “breaches of contract, unhealthy religion, unfair remedy and abuse”. She is requesting a jury trial and looking for reduction together with two years’ severance pay and damages.
Suda’s lawsuit, filed Monday (10 November) in Pennsylvania state courtroom, alleges that she was fired after clashing with “a small, corrupt faction” of the board of trustees who “shaped an govt committee that actively labored to undermine Suda by trying to sway employees, poison board relations and sabotage” the museum’s pursuit of its mission. The lawsuit was first reported by The New York Instances.
A spokesperson for the museum declined to touch upon the lawsuit to the Instances. Reached by The Artwork Newspaper, a museum spokesperson stated in an announcement: “The Artwork Museum is conscious of the just lately filed grievance in opposition to the museum, and we consider it’s with out advantage. We is not going to be offering additional remark at the moment.”
Luke Nikas, a lawyer with the agency Quinn Emanuel who’s representing Suda, instructed The Artwork Newspaper in an announcement: “A small cabal of trustees commissioned a sham investigation to create a pretext for Ms Suda’s termination. Ms Suda fought for and believed in a museum that may serve Philadelphia and its folks, not the egos of a handful of trustees. She is pleased with her work and appears ahead to presenting the reality.”
Suda’s lawsuit alleges a protracted string of moral and contractual violations by the museum’s present and former board chairs—Ellen Caplan and Leslie Ann Miller, respectively. The alleged incidents vary from pushing by means of hires that Suda alone had the authority to make, per the phrases of her contract, to failing to adequately examine an incident involving a board member that had resulted in a number of employees complaints.
The lawsuit alleges that, following a vote-of-confidence by the board’s govt committee earlier this autumn (eight-to-two in Suda’s favour), Caplan “fabricated a false narrative round Suda’s compensation” by questioning a 3% cost-of-living enhance to her wage that was a part of the contract negotiated with the museum employees’ union in 2022.
The museum subsequently employed a regulation agency to conduct a “forensic investigation” of Suda’s compensation and bills. In line with the lawsuit, that investigation discovered no proof of misconduct however nonetheless portrayed Suda “as financially irresponsible and really useful that she be given the chance to resign”. A subsequent vote-of-confidence resulted in an eight-to-two tally in favour of firing Suda, who was allegedly knowledgeable “that she had simply been successfully terminated” on the morning she was internet hosting leaders visiting from the Nationwide Gallery of Artwork in Washington, DC, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Tate in London.
In line with the lawsuit, the sudden termination of Suda’s place three years right into a five-year contract dangers leaving her—a Canadian nationwide—with no supply of revenue to qualify for her Inexperienced Card. The grievance notes: “This may give Suda 60 days to go away the nation the place she resides together with her household and the place her youngsters attend elementary college.”
The lawsuit claims that, regardless of alleged opposition by some board members, Suda excelled in her position. She reportedly surpassed fundraising targets, bringing in $16.7m in fiscal yr 2025—virtually $800,000 greater than the goal for the yr. Capital funding additionally doubled, rising by $2m. She helped enhance scholar visits to the museum from round 8,000 in 2021 to 38,000 within the 2023-24 college yr, the grievance claims. Just a few days earlier than her firing, she had allegedly secured a donor’s verbal dedication of a $25m reward to assist the development of a brand new training centre.
Suda was beforehand the director and chief govt of the Nationwide Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. She arrived on the PAM at a time of turmoil. The museum’s earlier chief Timothy Rub had resigned after it emerged that management had didn’t cease a sample of office mistreatment and alleged sexual misconduct by a supervisor. Staff on the establishment subsequently voted to type a union and, as negotiations over its first contract dragged on, they went on strike the identical week that Suda began in her position. The strike in the end lasted for 3 weeks.
