AWARD WINNING EDITORIAL
SEPTEMBER 5, 2022 VOL. 58, No. 36
INCLUDING THE HUDSON VALLEY
westfaironline.com
Newman’s Own Foundation sued by Paul Newman’s daughters BY JUSTIN MCGOWN jmcgown@westfairinc.com
I TURNER TAKES CONSTRUCTION EDUCATION TO A NEW LEVEL BY PETER KATZ Pkatz@westfairinc.com
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n icon of the construction industry that reports having a staff of 10,000 employees and completing $12 billion of construction on 1,500 projects each year is joining with Westchester County’s Office of Economic Development and SUNY Westchester Community College (WCC) to bring its Turner School of Construction Management to Westchester. The Turner School of Construction Management has visited various cities nationally offering a free educational program to qualified operators of small,
minority-owned, women-owned, disadvantaged and veteran-owned businesses. It’s designed to reach small-business leaders who have been working as general contractors, subcontractors, construction managers, construction consultants and individuals who work closely with construction management firms. The Turner School immerses participants in the real world of construction management and is different from workforce development programs that offer training in skills such as plumbing and electrical work. The twice-weekly evening classes will run from six to eight weeks at WCC and are scheduled
The White Plains Hospital Center for Advanced Medicine & Surgery was built by Turner. to begin on Sept. 27. Turner Construction Company is known for contributing its talents to building such landmarks as the United Nations Secretariat, passenger terminals at JFK International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and O’Hare International, Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium, USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Arthur Ashe Stadium, 19 of the world’s 100 tallest buildings and fairly recently the new White Plains Hospital Center for Advanced Medicine & Surgery. Turner’s team working on the 250,000-square-foot nine-story White Plains Hospital project
GIANT TURNER
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n a case filed with the Superior Court of Stamford-Norwalk on Aug. 23, two daughters of late actor/philanthropist and Westport resident Paul Newman are suing the foundation that bears his name. Susan Kendall Newman and Elinor T. “Nell” Newman are named as plaintiffs, alongside the charitable organizations, which were established in their names by their father. The sisters are seeking $1.6 million in damages and are also seeking assurances that their foundations will each be given $400,000 annually to spend on charitable work, claiming their father explicitly stated that sum was to be given to the foundations set up for all five of his daughters. The money originates from the proceeds earned by the popular Newman’s Own grocery product line — the foundation receives 100% of the after-tax profits from the product’s sales to support various educational and charitable organizations. The lawsuit claimed the Newman’s Own Foundation has only provided each daughter’s foundation with $200,000. According to the lawsuit, the foundation almost immediately altered the plans that Paul Newman had laid out in living wills, recorded statements and written correspondence in the years prior to his death in 2008. Allegedly this was done at the direction of then-president Bob Forrester and Brian Murphy, a business associate of Newman, and within four days of the actor’s passing the funds provid-
ed directly to the foundation for each daughter were replaced with a “Grant Recommendation Program,” which eliminated annual payments of “up to $100,000 in market-based compensation for each daughter’s work” on behalf of their respective foundations while changing the women’s roles in their philanthropic endeavors. The lawsuit stated the foundation’s action was the start of a “long march of disregard for Mr. Newman’s stated intentions,” although it does note that Forrester is no longer involved with the foundation — he was ousted as president in 2019 following an investigation of alleged inappropriate behavior toward female employees. Murphy is currently a member of the foundation’s board of directors, but neither individual is named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Furthermore, the lawsuit stated that the foundation’s actions violated the terms of using the rights to Paul Newman’s name and likeness because that was predicated on the requirement that each daughter’s charity receive $400,000 per year. It also lists a number of other alleged departures from previous wills and statements, including a codicil bequeathing one of the racing cars Newman collected to his personal driver and the defunding of the Scott Newman Center, a substance abuse and domestic violence prevention-oriented nonprofit named for Newman’s late son. Also noted was the foundation’s 2015 decision to not renew the licensing agreement with Newman’s Own Organics, a separate nonprofit
NEWMAN
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