Supporters, Opponents of Habitat Founder Rally for Change
More than 100 people rallied at the Habitat for Humanities (HfH) headquarters in Americus, Georgia, in support of its recently fired founder and former president, on Saturday, January 5, 2005.
The supporters, who also launched an online petition to protest his firing, gathered signatures for his reinstatement and threatened to stop giving to the charity lest Millard Fuller and his wife are reinstated.
According to a February 2 press release by HfH, Millard Fuller acted inappropriately with a female staff member. However, Fuller denied the charges and rather pointed to an “internal power struggle” as the real reason behind the termination.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
In an earlier interview with the Non Profit Times, Fuller said that “even if” he had sexually harassed a former employee, “while it’s not good conduct, it’s not egregious, criminal activity.”
According to a letter sent by former employees of HfH, the recent allegations were not surprising—Fuller had been charged with sexually harassing five women some 15 years ago as well.
“Ours is a simple story. In exit interviews in 1990, Habitat's chaplains learned of Millard's sexually abusive and harassing behavior. It was investigated, turning up many women and explicit complaints. The Board focused on complaints by five women and found clear evidence of obvious, classic sexual harassment,” wrote three past Chaplains who served at HfH before being fired.
“Then began Millard's counterattack. He called it a "power play" by the Board, he blamed the women for being vulnerable, a smear campaign was started. He hinted that the headquarters would be moved out of Americus, he organized a nationwide threatened boycott by Habitat affiliates, and then he fired us. When, in exasperation, the Board fired Millard, President Carter intervened and threatened to leave Habitat. All this was fifteen years ago -- today, the same pattern on everyone's part,” the letter, sent to Habitat Affiliates last week, read.
Fuller meanwhile denied charges from both the 1990s and 2004 and said he wishes to be reinstated as president.
