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22
Friday, May 22, 1987
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
NEWS
AJCommittee Approves
Firing Of Gordis
EDWIN BLACK
Special to the Jewish News
ew York — David Gor-
dis' ouster as ex-
ecutive vice president
of the American Jewish Com-
mittee was confirmed by an
emotional meeting of the
agency's Board of Governors
last week. Voting 55 to 22,
they sustained the officers'
decision last month to ter-
minate the 46 year old Judaic
scholar who has lead the
agency for nearly three years.
But the inevitable did not
come easily for either Gordis
or the Committee, and not
without substantial bloodlet-
ting on both sides.
Gordis' resignation was
originally requested on April
24 at the height of an authori-
ty struggle— specifically
whether lay leaders would be
entitled to speak directly to
staff. "I didn't honor the
resignation request," ex-
plained Gordis in an inter-
view, "because I knew the
agency was on the move, and
that we had accomplished so
much. This was not the time
for my resignation." Theodore
Ellenoff then exercised his
authority as president to fire
Gordis outright.
Gordis insisted on pushing
the matter to a formal vote by
the officers, who approved by
a vote of six to one. Still un-
willing to leave quietly, Gor-
dis demanded the matter be
brought before the Board of
Governors, pursuant to the
Committee's by-laws.
Because the conflict arose
just days before the sched-
uled annual meeting, the
demanded Governor's ratifi-
cation was quickly convened
on May 13 at the Grand
Hyatt in Manhattan. Imbued
with all the rancor and hostili-
ty of a corporate proxy battle,
the five and half hour Gover-
nors' meeting, and much of
the corridor banter, was filled
with personal and profes-
sional attacks against the
main combatants. On one
side was Gordis, and a coterie
of young, up and coming
Governors. On the opposing
side was Ellenoff, represent-
ing the majority. The issue:
who would run the agency,
the professionals, or the peo-
ple who paid the bills?
Ellenoff explained that the
executive vice president had
long been been the source of
"extreme tension" among the
officers of the agency over the
question of control. The ten-
sion reportedly peaked last
summer in Jerusalem when
Ellenoff and Gordis met in
the King David Hotel and
discussed among other busi-
ness. renewing Gordis' three-
year contract. Ellenoff told
the governors, "David said,
`I'm going to sign it provided
you promise me you will not
talk to staff. ...I want to be
sure staff only talks to me."'
Ellenoff said he was
"shocked" and urged Gordis
not to sign the contract if he
wasn't comfortable.
Ultimately, explains Gor-
dis, "I signed the contract
because it was acceptable."
But he denies there was, any
contract dispute over contact
to staff. "That's a fabrica-
tion," insists Gordis.
However, the issue never
went away and intensified
during the last several
months. A source familiar
with Gordis' grievances ex-
plained that Gordis, "found
out that Ellenoff had begun
contract negotiations with
[International Director] Marc
Tanenbaum, [fundraiser] Ar-
thur Foyer and [associate
director] William Trosten. It
included early retirement for
Tanenb aum."
According to the source,
Gordis confided "I didn't
think it was right for Ellenoff
to use his close relationships
with these people to under-
mine the proper management
and administration of the
agency. I never asked that the
lay leaders not talk to staff
about policy matters— only
such things as contract
negotiations and administra-
tion which is the executive
vice president's responsibili-
ty." Gordis refused to confirm
or deny the statements for
the record.
Sources in the AJC hierar-
chy, however, dispute Gordis'
claim that he never objected
to contact on policy matters.
The conflict reached its
denouement on April 24, ac-
cording to insiders. "Gordis
demanded a written policy
statement from Ellenoff pro-
mising that he and only he
would have the right to talk
to staff," said one official. The
demand was refused.
Gordis is now consulting
his attorney to ensure he col-
lects on two years of his re-
maining $150,000 salary. For
now, Gordis remains on the
payroll. Ellenoff promises the
rest will be handled, "honor-
ably." He adds, "David was
not on trial. He made a
number of substantial con-
tributions to the thinking and
program of the agency."