4/17/24 – Declaration of Jennifer Magill in Support of Plaintiff’s Request for Voluntary Dismissal

Below is the declaration that Jennifer Magill, CEO of Breaking Code Silence, filed in support of their Request for Voluntary Dismissal. Attached to this declaration, she included a single bank statement, a billing statements from two different lawfirms, invoices for tax return preparation (paid by Vanessa Hughes), a color-coded spreadsheet that showed a large amount of money owed to McNamara by BCS and $54,000 owed to Vanessa Hughes for loans to BCS, a list of reoccurring expenses, and more receipts paid for by Vanessa Hughes. Notably missing are balance sheets and profit-and-loss statements, as ordered by the court.

Instead of providing the court with what it requested, Magill seems to attempt to shift blame of BCS’ financial state to the defendants, who had not been part of Breaking Code Silence for years at that point. Some of the more strange notable things that Magill mentions:

  1. Magill attempts to blame McNamara for previous litigation BCS initiated against other parties, which ended almost two years prior to this declaration. McNamara did not interview or seek out the attorneys for this litigation, she did not sign for the litigation contract on on behalf of BCS, she did not have the power to initiate a lawsuit on behalf of BCS, this litigation was voted on by the full board of BCS (including the then-CEO Vanessa Hughes and Jennifer Magill), etc. Magill attempts to shift blame by vaguely stating that McNamara is somehow solely reponsible for BCS’ actions due to “intentionally inaccurate” information. It should also be noted that BCS continued their previous litigation for almost 5 months after McNamara’s resignation. Read more details here.
  2. Blames McNamara for disputing BCS’ trademark application in the USPTO office. Per a written conversation between Vanessa Hughes and Jesse Jensen, one of the goals of this trademark application is to use the trademark to attempt to take ownership of McNamara’s domain. McNamara is disputing the application and believes no one should own the mark or term “Breaking Code Silence.” The opposition can be found here. BCS could choose to abandon the mark and concede that no one person or company owns the name “Breaking Code Silence.”
  3. Even more bizarrely, Magill claims that McNamara had “set up the BCS bank account as a personal account rather than a corporate account” and “the issue was compounded after her resignation when she refused to relinquish administrative control over several of the organization’s accounts, including the former bank account.” These allegations are even more stunningly bold by Magill as the evidence clearly shows the opposite. This email thread shows McNamara went to US Bank the day after she resigned to remove her name from BCS’ bank account account. When the bank refused to remove her, she immediately emailed Hughes and Magill to ask them to have her removed. As one can read in the threat, she received confirmation from Magill McNamara had been removed from the account on December 14th, 2021 – five days after her resignation. The US Bank statements also show that the account was listed as a “Nonprofit Checking Account” from the day it was opened to the day of McNamara’s resignation. According to US Bank’s own statements and paperwork, it was never a “personal account” as Magill stated under penalty of perjury.

I, Jennifer Magill, declare as follows:
1. I am the CEO of Breaking Code Silence (“BCS”), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization that supports survivors of institutional abuse in the “troubled teen
industry” through education, outreach, research, and community organizing.
Pursuant to the Court’s April 10, 2024 Order (Dkt. 200), I submit this declaration in
support of BCS’ Request for Voluntary Dismissal with Prejudice Pursuant to FRCP
41(a)(2) (Dkt. 198).
2. As a nonprofit organization, BCS has very limited assets. BCS
maintains a bank account at Alpine Bank, with a current balance of $2,308.68. See
Ex. A. BCS has no other deposit accounts (bank, credit union, or otherwise) with
any financial institution other than Alpine Bank. BCS has no other quantifiable
assets available for liquidation.
3. BCS currently has liabilities totaling $235,128.50, which include the
following:
a. Legal fees owed to Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP
in the amount of $63,467.50. See Ex. B. These fees relate to litigation regarding
BCS’ trademarks, which was brought based on information provided by then-board
member McNamara. BCS resolved the case upon learning that the
information provided was intentionally inaccurate, and the organization now
collaborates with the former opposing parties in joint activism against institutional
child abuse.
b. Legal fees owed to T-Rex Law, P.C. in the amount of $1,880.00.
See Ex. C. These fees relate to the trademark challenge initiated by Ms. McNamara
after she left the organization. The fees incurred are to dispute Ms. McNamara
challenging the very same facts and exhibits she herself previously submitted to the
USPTO and to BCS’ attorneys.
c. Tax preparation fees in the amount of $3,700.00. See Ex. D.

These fees were higher than expected due to a series of complications arising from
Ms. McNamara’s handling of the organization’s bank account. In May of 2021, as a
Board member and the CFO, Ms. McNamara set up the BCS bank account as a
personal account rather than a corporate account. As a result, BCS had no access to
the initial banking statements. The issue was compounded after her resignation
when she refused to relinquish administrative control over several of the
organization’s accounts, including the former bank account. U.S. Bank informed
me that they closed BCS’ bank account after receiving a phone call requesting the
account be closed. This call was not made by me or Vanessa Hughes.
Consequently, BCS was unable to access these bank records, rendering the
organization unable to demonstrate its financial standing for tax purposes. These
actions caused BCS to be delinquent in its tax filing, necessitating the costly hiring
of a CPA to assist with the tax filing.
d. Operating funds in the amount of $97,131.10 loaned to BCS by
Ms. McNamara. See Ex. E.
e. Operating funds in the amount of $54,188.74 loaned to BCS by
Dr. Hughes. See Ex. E.
f. Operating funds in the amount of $6,710.91 loaned to BCS by
me. See Ex. E.
g. Recurring expenses in the amount of $326.83 per month. See
Ex. F.s
h. Deposition transcript fees in the amount of $7,723.45 loaned to
BCS by Dr. Hughes. See Ex. G.
4. To the best of my knowledge, these are all of the material assets and
liabilities of BCS. I am not aware of any assets exceeding $500.00 that are not
identified here.
5. All of the documents appended hereto were retrieved between January
5, 2024, and April 15, 2024, and are true and accurate copies of the originals.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.