Retired WUSA anchor J.C. Hayward has been dismissed from a lawsuit, that led to her being pulled off air, after agreeing to a settlement.
The Washington Post reports the Office of the Attorney General confirmed Hayward has reached a settlement in a lawsuit alleging she took part in a scheme to divert tax dollars meant for Options Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. to two private companies.
The D.C. attorney general filed a lawsuit in October 2013 naming the well-known television personality as one of five people involved in an effort to divert millions of federal tax dollars meant for Options to two for-profit companies that the school’s managers founded and ran. According to the terms of her settlement agreement, Hayward will pay $8,500 to Options, a sum authorities had alleged she received to attend board meetings of one company. Hayward’s lawyer, Jeffrey S. Jacobovitz, noted that the sum had been approved by the board’s outside counsel at the time.
AdvertisementHayward retired from WUSA in January after four decades on the air. She had been on hiatus since late 2013, when she was placed on leave pending an investigation into the Options allegations.
“Ms. Hayward has always disputed these claims from the beginning and has professed her profound commitment to helping at-risk young people in the Metropolitan Washington D.C. area,” Jacobovitz said in a statement on behalf of Hayward.