ACLU of Indiana delays start of new executive after launching independent review

The ACLU of Indiana is delaying the start date for new executive director Nikkita Oliver due to “conflicting reports and inaccurate rumors” among current staff, the organization’s board told The Indiana Lawyer on Friday.

The board said in a statement that it has launched a third-party review “to establish the facts and ensure healthier conditions for a smoother transition.” In the meantime, Oliver is meeting with ACLU affiliates around the country to learn about their strategic approaches.

“To be clear: The incoming Executive Director is not changing the purpose or mission of the ACLU of Indiana,” the board’s statement said. “The ACLU of Indiana is committed to non-partisanship and providing the most effective advocacy possible in furtherance of its mission.”

The announcement came after longtime legal director Ken Falk and several other attorneys and staff left or made plans to leave the ACLU of Indiana.

Falk and the ACLU board on Friday confirmed that Falk has submitted his resignation. But his resignation is not immediate — he plans to stay through the end of the year.

In total, six members of the team, which advocates for civil liberties, have announced their resignations, Neil Hudelson, former director of philanthropy, previously told The Indiana Lawyer. They include Hudelson, Falk, senior staff attorney Stevie Pactor, deputy legal director Gavin Rose, senior litigation support specialist Chad Blackwelder and staff attorney Josh Bleisch.

Hudelson told The Lawyer on Thursday that he originally notified the ACLU’s human resources department of his resignation in mid-July, following a conversation he had with Oliver. Hudelson said he met with Oliver at the request of the ACLU board, after he and several others at the organization expressed concern over Oliver’s priorities.

Hudelson said he was concerned with how the mission of the ACLU conflicted with Oliver’s goals for the organization, which he believed could impact donor willingness to support it.

During his meeting with Oliver, Hudelson said he learned that while the two agreed on ways they could expand the ACLU’s reach, they also disagreed on a few points.

Hudelson said that Oliver told him that conservative clients who wanted their case represented by the ACLU could seek assistance elsewhere, and that the ACLU should look into the background of potential clients before deciding whether to represent them.

Oliver disputes that and said in a statement Friday provided by the ACLU that their conversation with Hudelson included discussion about the legal department’s caseload and whether the department should take on every case presented to it that has merit. They also discussed Oliver’s framework for the organization, free speech and development. The discussion ended cordially, Oliver said.

“While organizational transitions naturally raise questions, it is distressing that a small group of staff who have, at most, interacted with me once seem to have generated these rumors and false allegations,” Oliver said in the statement. “It is equally distressing to see community members misinformed by these rumors and false allegations before we have even had the opportunity to meet.”

The statement from the ACLU of Indiana board said Oliver has never advocated for changes to how cases were chosen. The board said the ACLU also is not changing its commitment to non-partisanship.

“Certain allegations from several staff attributed actions to the incoming Executive Director that were pure speculation,” the statement said.

Oliver, who goes by they/them pronouns according to the ACLU, told The Indiana Lawyer on Thursday in a LinkedIn message, “My plan is, and always has been, to work collaboratively with the staff, board, and community stakeholders to develop and implement a strategic plan that ensures we have all the tools necessary to protect and defend the civil liberties and civil rights of all Hoosiers.” 

Hudelson said he told the ACLU he would resign Oct. 2. However, he said he was fired shortly before then, following a contentious meeting with staff and the board.

Hudelson said that, despite him asking the ACLU to address his concerns about Oliver, the ACLU never addressed these concerns with him or any other staff member before the late September meeting.  

Hudelson says he was fired within a couple days of that meeting. He said the organization’s board opened an investigation into staff concerns only after he was fired and members of the ACLU’s legal team left.

The ACLU would not confirm whether Hudelson was fired but a spokesperson said one employee had been fired for cause following “multiple instances of misconduct.”

The statement confirmed that Falk, Rose, Pactor and Bleisch had resigned and said the ACLU of Indiana board had been in conversation with some of them about their plans and timing for transition since well before announcing that Oliver had been selected. The ACLU did not address Hudelson’s nor Blackwelder’s departure from the organization.

Hudelson said his dismissal occurred two days before his resignation date. He said that move “was meant to intimidate remaining staff into silence and is a shameful and irresponsible moment in this organization’s history.” 

A statement from a spokesperson said the board hired an outside HR firm “to conduct an independent review of contradictory reports from a few staff, including rumors, unsubstantiated accusations, and long-standing complaints about workplace culture.”

The statement said that review started in mid-September and should take six to eight weeks to complete.

Pactor, who worked at the ACLU for eight years, told The Lawyer on Thursday that Hudelson’s firing was the last straw for her. She left on Oct. 19.

Pactor said she had several concerns about the organization and Oliver prior to her departure, citing the board’s refusal to acknowledge or clarify Oliver’s goals and how they differed from how the ACLU has operated.

Pactor said Oliver told her of a goal to turn Indiana “light red,” or less conservative, because turning the state blue would be impossible. Pactor said she filed a complaint with HR after that meeting because she was concerned that Oliver’s comment could put the organization’s nonpartisan, nonprofit status in jeopardy.

In an emailed response to The Lawyer, Oliver said that their “light red” comment meant the collaborative effort needed to build a statewide infrastructure that ensures every eligible Hoosier has the opportunity to vote.

“Expanding voter access naturally shifts the political landscape away from an exclusive focus on a single party,” Oliver said in an email. “By creating a more balanced electoral environment, we invite greater non-partisan engagement from all citizens, regardless of their political affiliation.”

During the meeting in late September, Pactor confirmed that staff believed the board was accusing staff members of spreading misinformation about Oliver. When asked to cite what information was being spread, a board member referred to a Substack that had compiled several comments Oliver made on social media.

The spokesperson said in a statement that the Substack post was anonymous and included content Oliver never posted, shared or liked so it was erroneous to say that Oliver had made the comments.

The ACLU of Indiana board said it was in the process of identifying an interim legal director and will work with the ACLU’s national office, “other affiliates, and local attorneys to ensure that our clients receive the highest quality representation.”

Falk, an adjunct professor of law at the Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis, has been legal director of ACLU of Indiana since 1996.

Oliver is replacing Chris Daley, who parted ways with the organization in September “following a mutual decision” he made with the ACLU of Indiana’s board of directors.

The ACLU of Indiana had announced the appointment of Oliver, an Indiana native, in June. Oliver’s career includes advocacy work for several organizations, including Law for Black Lives and the Lavender Rights Project.

A 2020 Vanity Fair article noted that Oliver also once ran for mayor of Seattle and was a prominent figure behind protests in that city following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.