LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — Deborah Dugan, who was on placed paid administrative leave from her post as President/CEO of the Recording Academy in January, has officially been fired.
“As you know, Deborah Dugan has been on a paid administrative leave of absence since January 16, 2020. We are writing to let you know that, earlier today, the Board of Trustees voted to terminate Ms. Dugan’s employment as President/CEO of the Recording Academy,” the Academy said in a statement on Monday.
In a statement from the Recording Academy announcing the decision to terminate Dugan’s employment, the organization cited her “consistent management deficiencies and failures, and other factors.”
The Academy’s decision to terminate Dugan follows a pair of independent investigations into the allegations leveled against Dugan as well as complaints she lodged against the Recording Academy and board members.
Dugan was placed on administrative leave in January after the Recording Academy after she was accused of verbally abusing a female staff member.
After she was suspended, Dugan filed a 44-page legal complaint alleging sexual harassment, widespread conflicts of interest in the Grammy nomination and voting practice and that her predecessor Neil Portnow had raped a woman.
Both Portnow, and Academy board member Joel Katz, who she accused of sexually harassing her, denied the allegations against them.
The decision by the Academy to terminate Dugan is not surprising. The sudden and public split with Dugan came at the worst possible time for the Academy, hitting the headlines just two weeks before the 2020 Grammy Awards.
According to the Academy, the decision to terminate Dugan did not include a settlement.
“Although we did participate in some settlement discussions at Ms. Dugan’s request after she stated that it was her desire to leave the Academy and be bought out of her employment contract, we were ultimately compelled to dismiss Ms. Dugan as our President/CEO. Not removing Ms. Dugan from the organization at this time would have caused us to compromise our values. We could not reward her with a lucrative settlement and thereby set a precedent that behavior like hers has no consequence. Our members and employees, and the entire music industry, deserve better than that.”
