A 1:30 p.m. October 21 hearing is scheduled in Jasper County Circuit Court on a small claims case involving Unity of Joplin and its former spiritual leader.
According to the petition, which was filed Thursday, the Unity of Joplin Board of Trustees claims Rachel Willis-Barnes failed to return a 13-inch Mac Air laptop worth $1,000 and instead substituted an HP laptop she bought on sale at Walmart for $159 and offered no explanation for the substitution.
When the board's attorney sent Willis-Barnes a letter with "an offer for remittance," Willis-Barnes contacted the attorney and said, "Tell them they can sue me," the petition said.
The letter to Willis-Barnes, which was sent by Andrew Mead, a Buffalo attorney, offered Willis-Barnes a proposal to put the $159 cost of the HP laptop toward what she owed, as long as she paid the remaining $841. An August 15 deadline was set and passed with no payment.
At the conclusion of his letter, Mead promised additional action against Willis-Barnes:
The church feels that as good stewards of their congregants' funds, they are obligated to follow up on any improprieties and take appropriate action. Other church concerns include the deceitful recordings of office conversations without consent and your failure to abide by the terms of the separation agreement which have caused great concern for the church congregation that may lead to an ethics review of your service.
No comments:
Post a Comment