{"id":443723,"date":"2025-12-13T04:03:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T04:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/443723\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T04:03:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T04:03:11","slug":"canadian-former-director-of-philadelphia-art-museum-says-she-was-the-target-of-a-coup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/443723\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian former director of Philadelphia Art Museum says she was the target of a \u2018coup\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Sasha Suda joined the Philadelphia Art Museum in 2022 after departing her role as director and chief executive of the National Gallery of Canada.Hannah Yoon\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Sasha Suda, the Canadian museum director recently fired from the Philadelphia Art Museum<\/a> amid allegations that she gave herself unsanctioned raises, has filed a raft of new documents that she says prove her salary increases were authorized and that she was the target of a \u201ccoup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Suda launched her initial legal complaint on Nov. 10, arguing that she was terminated after a \u201csham investigation\u201d and resistance from board members as she tried to transform one of America\u2019s premiere art institutions. The latest court documents \u2013 which were filed on Thursday and include text messages, e-mails and internal correspondence \u2013 were submitted in response to the museum\u2019s attempt to force the matter to arbitration. <\/p>\n

Ms. Suda, who is seeking a jury trial, accuses the museum of drumming up the allegations that she misappropriated funds. \u201cThe baseless narrative of financial misconduct was the pretext to remove Suda,\u201d reads a memorandum filed by Ms. Suda\u2019s lawyer, Luke Nikas.<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for the museum, Laura Coogan, declined to comment on the new filings. None of the allegations contained in the wrongful dismissal suit have been tested in court. <\/p>\n

Ms. Suda joined the Philadelphia Art Museum in September, 2022, on a five-year contract after departing her role as director and chief executive of the National Gallery of Canada \u2013 a tenure that was also marked by controversy and saw the departure of dozens of staff. <\/p>\n

Inside the power struggles and staff turmoil at Canada\u2019s National Gallery<\/a><\/p>\n

The Pennsylvania state court filings mark the latest salvo in a fight that has spilled into public view, placing fresh scrutiny on a museum that has in recent years confronted sexual-harassment claims, union disputes and financial challenges. Ms. Suda contends that her time at the museum was mired in dealings with a dysfunctional board. <\/p>\n

Ms. Suda submitted screenshots of several text exchanges with the chair of the finance committee, John Alchin, which allude to tensions between Ms. Suda and former board chair, Leslie Miller. \u201cWay too much she said\/she said crap is floating around \u2013 I feel like I have to be overly diplomatic so that I\u2019m not seen as in a power struggle with Leslie,\u201d reads an August, 2023, text from Ms. Suda to Mr. Alchin.<\/p>\n

When Ms. Suda began at the museum in 2022, she negotiated an annual base salary of US$720,000 \u2013 which the museum has described as a nearly fivefold increase from her salary at the helm of the gallery in Ottawa. The museum alleges that Ms. Suda repeatedly sought pay increases from the board\u2019s compensation committee between 2023 and 2025, but despite its refusal to grant any such raises, \u201ctook the money anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canadian former director of Philadelphia Art Museum accused by board of theft, court filings show<\/a><\/p>\n

The museum\u2019s court filing does not specify the size of the alleged improper pay increases. In her Nov. 10 wrongful dismissal suit<\/a>, though, Ms. Suda said she received a 3-per-cent cost-of-living adjustment in line with what unionized staff had negotiated. <\/p>\n

Ms. Suda\u2019s submission contends that Mr. Alchin \u201cmaintained direct oversight over and worked collaboratively with Suda on budget matters,\u201d and that her approach to salary schedules was discussed openly in committee meetings. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll salary increases originated in the Museum\u2019s Human Resources department, were budgeted and approved in advance, and were issued through letters on Museum letterhead, with copies to the Finance Committee,\u201d the Dec. 11 memorandum states.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Sasha Suda introduces an exhibit in Ottawa on June 1, 2022, when she was CEO of the National Gallery of Canada.PATRICK DOYLE\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

The new documents include an e-mail chain from March, 2023, in which the museum\u2019s chief financial officer tells the director of human resources that she was \u201ctrying to figure out what increase sasha might be entitled to in FY24.\u201d The e-mail continues: \u201cI will budget her with a 3% increase \u2026 Prior to finalizing I will check with John Alchin or Leslie to make sure they are comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The HR director responded to the CFO saying this \u201csounds good.\u201d According to the exhibit, the CFO then sent an e-mail to someone else saying, \u201cSasha\u2019s comp [is] $720k. For budgeting purposes, please assume a 3% increase \u2026\u201d <\/p>\n

The new filing also includes an August, 2025, letter from the HR department, in which Ms. Suda was informed that her salary would rise from US$749,087 to US$771,560, with a footnote showing the document was copied to finance.<\/p>\n

In making a case that a faction of the board was looking for a way to push her out, Ms. Suda says the board chair, Ellen Caplan, requested a \u201c360-degree review\u201d of her job performance in the fall of this year. That process didn\u2019t seek input from at least two of her \u201cstrongest supporters,\u201d Ms. Suda claims, despite the fact that she had received \u201ca glowing internal performance review\u201d a short time before.<\/p>\n

The documents filed Dec. 11 include that positive performance review, which appears to be a self-assessment in which Ms. Suda laid out her key objectives and progress in detail. The 360-degree review is not included in the filing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Sasha Suda joined the Philadelphia Art Museum in 2022 after departing her role…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":443724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[2148,648,1032,2138,671,104,2132,692,2147,2131,2143,2144,2140,2133,2130,1033,79,407,171,746,2142,2137,2159,2134,2135,454,2139,1165,728,2149,108,2154,2155,2157,2152,2156,2150,2153,2136,85,2146,80,2145,2151,1458,158,1164,2141,67,132,68,1154,107,2158],"class_list":{"0":"post-443723","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-arts-news","12":"tag-bc","13":"tag-breaking-news","14":"tag-breaking-news-video","15":"tag-british-columbia","16":"tag-canada","17":"tag-canada-news","18":"tag-canada-sports","19":"tag-canada-sports-news","20":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","21":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","22":"tag-canadian-news","23":"tag-design","24":"tag-economy","25":"tag-education","26":"tag-entertainment","27":"tag-environment","28":"tag-federal-government","29":"tag-foreign-news","30":"tag-globe-and-mail","31":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","32":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","33":"tag-government","34":"tag-life-news","35":"tag-lifestyle","36":"tag-local-news","37":"tag-manitoba","38":"tag-national-news","39":"tag-new-brunswick","40":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","41":"tag-northwest-territories","42":"tag-nova-scotia","43":"tag-nunavut","44":"tag-ontario","45":"tag-pei","46":"tag-photos","47":"tag-political-news","48":"tag-political-opinion","49":"tag-politics","50":"tag-politics-news","51":"tag-quebec","52":"tag-sports-news","53":"tag-technology","54":"tag-travel","55":"tag-trudeau","56":"tag-united-states","57":"tag-unitedstates","58":"tag-us","59":"tag-us-news","60":"tag-world-news","61":"tag-yukon"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}