Fox, Group Settle Suit Over Her Fee

Faced with the prospects of a complex trial in April, state schools Superintendent Anne Fox and St. Vincent de Paul opted to settle their dispute out of court.

The suit that Fox filed against the charity in 1994 was dismissed last week following the confidential settlement.

Fox was seeking $112,755 she claimed St. Vincent de Paul owed for her work in writing a federal grant application for a homeless shelter in 1992.

St. Vincent de Paul paid her $21,400, but refused to pay more, despite the fact that the $1.3 million grant was awarded.

The application had to be changed after Fox’s involvement, however, because the original proposal became unworkable.

Fox was asking 10 percent of the grant amount for her fee, but did not reveal the fee arrangement in the grant application.

St. Vincent de Paul officials claimed they found out later that the fee arrangement was not allowed in government contracts and considered unethical by a grant-writers’ association.

Fox argued that the fee was to be paid from store proceeds, while St. Vincent de Paul said the fee was to come from the grant amount because the store didn’t have the funds.

Both sides in the dispute requested a summary judgment last July from First District Court Judge Gary Haman.

In November, Haman ruled that the case had to go to trial because of disputed facts.

, DataTimes