News

• Published date: 01 November 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30683
• Date: 01 November 2019

NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR NOVEMBER 2019

12 © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

DOI: 10.1002/nba

the supervisor’s alleged remark wasn’t severe or per-

vasive enough to be actionable under Title VII. He

explained that the statute didn’t prohibit all verbal or

physical harassment in the workplace, and it wasn’t

a general civility code.

The judge also said an employer wasn’t liable if it

took prompt remedial action reasonably calculated

to end the harassment once it knew—or should have

known—about the harassment. He ruled that the

plaintiff couldn’t prevail because the school district

took immediate action against the supervisor by: (1)

issuing a written reprimand, (2) requiring him to at-

tend additional training and (3) ultimately ring him.

He also observed that the plaintiff apparently

didn’t have any further problems with the supervisor

after she reported his behavior.

Turning to the plaintiff’s claim of outrage, the

judge said Arkansas courts took a very narrow view

of such claims, and she was required to demonstrate:

(1) the school district knew or should have known that

emotional distress was the likely result of the con-

duct; (2) the behavior was extreme and outrageous,

beyond all possible bounds of decency and utterly

intolerable in a civilized community; (3) the actions

of the defendant were the cause of the plaintiff’s

distress; and (4) the emotional distress sustained by

the plaintiff was so severe that no reasonable person

could be expected to endure it.

He then ruled that the defendants’ conduct was

not extreme and beyond all bounds of decency as

required by Arkansas law.

The judge granted a summary judgment in favor

of the school district.

[Rodgers v. North Little Rock School District, U.S.

District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas,

No. 4:18CV00314, 05/07/2019]. ■

News

Candid consolidates ofces,

trim services

Candid, the new nonprot created by the merg-

ing of the Foundation Center and GuideStar, has

announced it will close one of its Washington, D.C.,

ofces and trim its services offered through its other

D.C. location.

According to the group, Candid’s ofce currently

at 1627 K Street will relocate and will no longer be

open to the public. Local nonprots and community

members, however, will be able to access Candid re-

sources through the 100 or so Funding Information

Network partners in the nation’s northeastern region.

Candid has already begun redirecting Candid library

customers to nearby FIN locations.

Candid’s FIN partners will provide access to re-

sources nonprots and the public have historically

had access to through the group’s Washington, D.C.,

ofces, such as a virtual help desk and reference ser-

vices; in-person trainings in the Capitol region; the

Foundation Directory Online, Candid’s signature da-

tabase for nding funding; and Grantspace.org, the or-

ganization’s online portal for nonprot professionals.

“We will continue to focus on increasing engage-

ment in the surrounding communities in collabora-

tion with our FIN partners, connecting people to

the resources they need to change the world,” said

Kim Patton, director of Candid’s Northeast division.

“We’re not changing whom we serve, we’re changing

how we serve them.”

For more information about the change in services,

visit https://candid.org.

RKD Group expands into Canada

with acquisition

RKD Group, a leading provider of marketing

and fundraising solutions for nonprots based in

Texas, has acquired Direct Point Group, a Toronto,

Canada–based direct-response fundraising agency.

According to RKD, DPG provides “breakthrough

direct response fundraising and marketing services”

to a wide range of Canadian and U.S.-based non-

prots. The rm’s services in direct response televi-

sion production, midlevel donor strategy, gift-giving

catalogues and core direct response capabilities will

deepen and expand upon the services that RKD

Group offers currently, the company said.

DPG will be rebranded as RKD Direct Point, a di-

vision of RKD Group. The acquisition will establish

RKD Group’s presence in Canada, the company said.

DPG’s founder and president, Duke Smith, will

stay on with the company as senior vice president of

RKD Direct Point, the company said. Other terms

of the transaction were not disclosed.

For more information, visit https://rkdgroup.

com. ■