Former Outfest executive director Damien Navarro sues the organization

Outfest, the struggling nonprofit that had hosted a prominent Los Angeles LGBTQ+ film festival, is facing a defamation lawsuit from its former executive director, Damien S. Navarro.

Navarro on Friday sued Outfest in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging he was retaliated against after he raised discrimination and ethics concerns to the group’s leadership.

In his lawsuit, Navarro said Outfest did not take his concerns seriously enough or conduct an adequate investigation. He said he was excluded from meetings and that board members allegedly spread misinformation about his employment status.

Additionally, he accused Outfest and current and former board members of wrongly blaming him for the group’s financial woes, which were detailed last year in a Los Angeles Times article. The nonprofit’s board voted last year not to renew Navarro’s contract.

“Instead of taking collective responsibility for Outfest’s financial predicament, the Board generally, and specific Board members, sought falsely to cast blame on Mr. Navarro,” according to Navarro’s lawsuit. “As Outfest was imploding, members of the Outfest Board threw Plaintiff under the bus and sought to make him a scape goat for their own malfeasance.”

Outfest in a statement called Navarro’s claims “baseless and malicious.”

“Unfortunately, during Mr. Navarro’s leadership, the Outfest Board decided that it was in the organization’s best interest to bring in a new executive director,” Outfest said in a statement. “We remain committed to this decision as the best course of action for the organization and look forward to resolving this matter in legal proceedings.”

The lawsuit comes as Outfest is dealing with a financial deficit that has left it with just one employee — its interim executive director, Christopher Racster. The nonprofit was in turmoil last year, telling donors it was in “serious financial jeopardy” and needed to raise $750,000. It laid off its staff, including employees who decided to form a union.

Outfest, which began as a festival launched by UCLA grad students, had grown to attract thousands of people each year with its flagship summer film festival, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022.

The organization branched out into other areas over the years, launching additional events such as the OutFronts, highlighting LGBTQ+ TV series; its Legacy Awards, which honored leaders and allies in the industry; and Outfest Fusion, which features voices from LGBTQ+ people of color.

As The Times reported last year, multiple people close to Outfest’s leadership questioned Navarro’s actions as executive director, which they said contributed to the nonprofit’s problems.

In his lawsuit, Navarro said board members fell short of their individual fundraising commitments.

“The Board blamed Navarro while failing to meet even their undervalued commitments,” the statement from Navarro alleged. He added that directors failed to heed his warnings about the need to make tough decisions, including layoffs, and chose not to hold the Legacy Awards, a key fundraising event.

“The organization didn’t want to self-correct,” Navarro told The Times. “In fact, they just wanted to get me out.”

Board member Mike G. Rose disputed the claim, saying in an interview that the Legacy Awards weren’t held because there wasn’t enough money to front the costs.

“If you know you can’t pay the bill, you don’t hold the event,” he said.

Lucas Bailey, Outfest board co-president, said: “We’ve been trying to deal with the financial mismanagement that we were left with, and have been rebuilding.”