THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 12, 1995 TAG: 9501120374
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
Claiming he was wrongfully fired for pointing out financial wrongdoing, a former executive of a Christian Broadcasting Network subsidiary is suing CBN and its founder, Pat Robertson.
Robertson, in turn, is suing the former media president for allegedly faking numbers on an important financial statement - wrecking a $10 million deal - and trying to blackmail the ministry.
Robertson's lawsuit seeks $12 million in damages. The lawsuit against him seeks $3.3 million.
The dueling lawsuits raise questions about the relationship between nonprofit CBN and its for-profit subsidiaries.
The immediate issue in both lawsuits is: Why did Robertson fire Mark A. Barth in February 1994 as president of United States Media Corp., a for-profit CBN subsidiary.
Barth, 37, of Chesapeake, is now unemployed.
In his lawsuit, Robertson says that Barth inflated figures in a financial prospectus to entice a $10 million investment from a Malaysian businessman. Later, the lawsuit says, Barth suspended or fired employees who might uncover his misdeeds.
Eventually, the $10 million investment deal fell apart.
Robertson's lawsuit claims that Barth tried to extort money from him by threatening to file a suit that would embarrass the ministry. This allegedly occurred after Barth was fired.
``He was not fired for any whistle-blowing,'' said CBN's lawyer, Glen A. Huff. ``He saw that in other instances CBN, because it is reluctant to become embroiled in litigation, is at times a soft touch, it won't fight back. He just got greedy. He was demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars.''
But Barth's lawyer, O.L. Gilbert, said Barth is the victim of Robertson's wrath.
``Their filing of a lawsuit against Mark Barth is a bullying tactic to prevent him from airing his legitimate claims against them,'' Gilbert said. ``I view the filing of a $12 million lawsuit against an ex-employee without a job as a good example of bullying by a large corporation.''
In his lawsuit, Barth says that CBN's operating funds were improperly co-mingled with trust funds from the Christian Financial Planning Group, a CBN fund-raising arm.
Barth claims that he tried to stop this practice, but was removed from the planning group's investment committee. The lawsuit provides no further details, and Barth and his lawyer declined to elaborate.
Huff, CBN's lawyer, said that Barth made the charge solely to embarrass CBN. ``I am confident there is no improper co-mingling of funds going on,'' Huff said.
Barth also charges in his lawsuit that he was fired for trying to stop improper dealings between two Robertson-led companies.
Barth claims that International Family Entertainment - an independent company, chaired by Pat Robertson, that owns the Family Channel - took ``substantial assets'' from U.S. Media Corp. without compensation.
U.S. Media Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of CBN. International Family Entertainment is a separate company in Virginia Beach whose president, Tim Robertson, is Pat Robertson's son.
Barth's lawsuit does not say what assets were taken by International Family Entertainment.
The lawsuit says Barth brought this impropriety to the attention of CBN's directors, to no avail. Later, the lawsuit says, Tim Robertson demanded that Barth destroy documents about the transaction ``in case there was ever an investigation by any public entity.'' Barth refused and was fired, the suit says.
Huff, the CBN lawyer, said Wednesday that IFE did pay proper compensation for the media company's assets.
Barth's lawsuit also accuses Robertson of libel for writing letters that characterize Barth as a liar, an incompetent, committing fraud and acting abusively toward employees.
In those personal letters to Barth, Robertson paints Barth as a two-faced autocrat.
``For your own good,'' Robertson wrote to Barth, ``I urge you to face what we have seen - a virtual Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. We see someone who, on the one hand, appears to be very knowledgeable, gracious and charming. On the other hand, we see someone who is abusive to employees, excessively secretive, and really does not have the experience and expertise for the position he held.''
In the letters, Robertson claims that a team of auditors and four of Barth's former underlings say Barth faked his financial reports.
The two lawsuits are pending in different courts - Barth's in Virginia Beach, Robertson's in Chesapeake. Barth is trying to consolidate them in Virginia Beach. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Pat Robertson
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT CBN CHRISTIAN BROADCASTING NETWORK
by CNB