$450,000 Payment Draws Complaint Against San Francisco Museum Leader

Citing unnamed "multiple sources," the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the top fiscal official at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco has filed a whistle-blower complaint alleging financial misconduct by the organization's board president, noted Bay Area philanthropist Diane B. "Dede" Wilsey.

Michele Gutierrez, the museums' longtime chief financial officer, claims Wilsey got her to sign off on a $450,000 payment to an ill employee without consulting the museums' board. Two trustees resigned as a result, according to the paper's sources. Gutierrez declined to comment for the article, and a publicist for Wilsey said in a statement that the "disability severance payment" was initiated by Gutierrez and "approved unanimously" by the museums' board and audit committees.