Matthew 25 Leader Resigns After Allegations He Severely Sexually Harassed, Exposed Himself in Front of Employee
James Finchum, the highly-respected CEO of Matthew 25, a partner ministry of Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville, Tennessee, was forced to resign in January after a female employee alleged that she was severely sexually harassed and assaulted by her boss, who at one point exposed himself and masturbated in front of her in his office.
In a federal lawsuit made public last week, the woman who is black and listed as Jane Doe, said "she was subjected to an ongoing pattern of assault, battery and severe sexually harassing behavior" while at work. In addition to exposing himself to her, Finchum, who is a married grandfather, also touched the woman and made sexually suggestive comments to her for more than a year, Knox News reported.
Finchum, who has been prasied as a "values-based" leader on his LinkedIn page, is a graduate of Southern Nazarene University with a degree in physical education. He also holds a ministry preparation program certificate in Bible and biblical studies from Nazarene Bible College. His nonprofit, Matthew 25, is dedicated to helping homeless men.
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Almost as soon as Finchum was hired as CEO at Matthew 25 in March 2016, however, the woman said she started having problems and by June 2016 she was forced to seek help internally to deal with his lecherous behavior. Her cries for help, she said, were "either ignored or rebuffed," according to the lawsuit. She alleged that she told a board member at a lunch meeting at the time that she was "afraid" of Finchum but the board member "took no action" to help her.
In December 2016, the woman alleged in the lawsuit that Finchum called her into his office and started to massage her. He then "grabbed Plaintiff's hand and placed it on his groin area, through his pants. He then unzipped his pants, exposed his penis to Plaintiff and masturbated in front of her."
A few months later in April 2017, Finchum allegedly "approached Plaintiff from behind and held himself against her buttocks and hunched against her until his pants became wet," the lawsuit said.
The woman alleges that she was discriminated against because of her race and gender, noting that white employees were not subject to the same treatment.
"Defendant Finchum made references to Plaintiff's race in the context of his harassment directed toward Plaintiff," the lawsuit said.
When the woman revealed the harassment she was enduring in October 2017 to her colleagues, they worked to protect her from being alone with Finchum, going as far as making excuses for her to leave the office at times, according to the lawsuit.
When she called out sick on Oct. 31, 2017, to get treatment at an area hospital, "about an hour later Mr. Finchum appeared at her hospital room and told the nurse on duty that he was her boyfriend," the lawsuit said.
"The CEO has gone as far to expose himself to me. These advances, comments and all sexual behaviors are unwelcomed," she wrote in an email to Matthew 25's full board more than a year after the harassment started, according to the lawsuit. "I don't want any problems. I just want this to stop, so I can do my job."
The claims in the email were investigated and led to Finchum's resignation in January. Since emailing her complaint, however, the woman said she "has been ostracized and her job duties reduced."
Calls to Matthew 25 were not returned Monday but in a statement to Knox News, Matthew 25's attorney, Tracy M. Lujan, said the nonprofit's board "took swift action upon first learning of the alleged harassment in late December, 2017."
"Matthew 25 has been sensitive to and supportive of the complaining employee, who remains in her position today," Lujan said. "Matthew 25 has a strong anti-harassment policy. It takes employee complaints very seriously, and it is committed to supporting all of its staff members."
Christ Church Cathedral promised to respond to the situation Monday morning but a statement was not available by press time.
The lawsuit names both Finchum and Matthew 25 as defendants and the woman is seeking damages.
Matthew 25 was founded in 1985 by Fletch Coke and Ames Davis from Christ Church Cathedral, and Sue Spickarrd and the late Cotton Clark from First Presbyterian Church. The name of the organization was derived from the Gospel verse Matthew 25:40 which says "And the King will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'"
