Several attorneys and longtime legal director resign from ACLU of Indiana

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Several attorneys and longtime legal director Ken Falk have left the ACLU of Indiana, a former staff member told The Indiana Lawyer on Thursday.

In total, six members of the team, which advocates for civil liberties, have announced their resignations, said Neil Hudelson, former director of philanthropy. This includes 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 Nikkita Oliver, the incoming executive director for the organization. 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, who goes by they/them pronouns according to the ACLU, told The Indiana Lawyer that their new role has not started yet.

“I am currently on a learning tour gleaning from the wisdom of our ACLU affiliate network,” they said in a message on LinkedIn to The Lawyer. “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 during the meeting, which happened in late September, the ACLU board said Oliver had been a victim of false accusations and misinformation. Hudelson said he took that to mean that the staff have spread false information about Oliver.

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.

Stevie Pactor, who worked at the ACLU for eight years, told The Lawyer 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 an HR complaint after that meeting because she was concerned that Oliver’s comment could put the organization’s nonpartisan, nonprofit status in jeopardy.

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.

When asked for comment, the ACLU of Indiana board of directors said in a statement that Falk, Rose, Pactor and Bleisch resigned and one staff member was fired for cause.

The 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.”

“The Board has 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, noting that the review started in mid-September and should last six to eight weeks.

Pactor told The Lawyer that this experience has been “professionally and personally devastating.” But she emphasized how proud she is of what the organization could accomplish, especially with a small legal team. She said the attorneys will continue to represent their clients in the way they’re supposed to be.

Falk, whom The Lawyer honored in May with its annual Leadership in Law Lifetime Achievement Award, declined to comment.