Claims of collusion entangle Kansas congressional candidate Weir in Oklahoma lawsuit
Kansas congressional candidate Sara Hart Weir is a central player in an Oklahoma lawsuit that accuses one of her associates of committing forgery and fraud.
Weir isn’t a defendant in the case, but her name appears multiple times in the complaint that centers on a public relations contract for the National Down Syndrome Society, an advocacy organization Weir led prior to launching her campaign.
Oklahoma-based Jones Public Relations filed a lawsuit in September in Oklahoma County District Court alleging that a former employee, Joshua Harlow, colluded with Weir to secretly make changes to the company’s contract with NDSS months after the company had extended its contract into 2020.
The alleged misconduct occurred around the time Weir, a Johnson County Republican, was winding down her tenure at the disability rights organization and preparing to launch her candidacy for the Kansas 3rd congressional district
The seat, currently held by freshman Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids, is a top target for national Republicans. Weir’s candidacy has largely been based on her seven-year tenure at NDSS, one of the leading advocacy organizations for people with Down syndrome.
Weir’s campaign strongly denied that she took part in the alleged collusion and said that any changes to vendor contracts would have taken place without her knowledge.
“The collusion is 100 percent not true. She did not do that. If enough time goes on with this case, that will be proven,” said Pat Leopold, Weir’s campaign consultant.
Harlow worked for Jones PR from 2009 to April of 2019. The firm had entered a contract with NDSS in 2017, which was extended in January of 2019.
The complaint alleges that around the time of his departure, “unknown to Jones PR, Harlow colluded with Weir to further amend” the company’s contract with NDSS.
The allegedly fraudulent amendment was backdated to January of 2019 and cost the PR firm $260,000 in revenue, according to the complaint.
The amendment enabled NDSS to terminate its contract with Jones PR in 24 hours if Harlow was no longer an employee. It also created an exception to a provision requiring NDSS to pay the PR firm compensation if it hired away one of its employees.
“Harlow forged the electronic signature of CEO and President of Jones PR, Brenda Jones Barwick, in order to make it appear that the unauthorized second amended agreement was approved by Jones PR,” the complaint states.
Harlow resigned from the firm on April 18, 2019, and NDSS terminated the contract the following day, according to the complaint.
The suit alleges that Harlow made an agreement with Weir to take over as NDSS’ communications director on May 1, 2019, but because of the changes to the contract the PR firm was unable to recoup the compensation fee from its original contract.
Weir’s campaign team emphatically denied the alleged collusion and accused Jones Barwick of trying to use potential embarrassment to Weir as leverage in the lawsuit against Harlow.
“If she actually thought Sara had done something wrong, she would sue Sara,” said Leopold, Weir’s campaign consultant, in a Thursday phone call.
He said that Weir announced her departure from NDSS in February of 2019. She remained on staff until the end of April of 2019, but she played no role in decisions about vendors after her announcement.
“Sara did not sign or execute any vendor agreements, employee agreements or organization partner agreements after her departure as CEO of NDSS was announced on February 28, 2019; and any alterations made to existing contracts were done so without her knowledge,” Leopold said in a Friday email.
Weir and Harlow have a long-standing friendship since attending Westminster College together in the early 2000s and Leopold contended that “the entire reason she’s being brought in is because she’s a friend of Josh.”
Weir’s campaign emphasized that she was not a party in the case and has not been deposed, but she has complied with all document requests from Jones PR and NDSS related to the matter.
Jones PR’s attorneys declined to comment on the case beyond the court record, nor would they clarify whether they’ll seek to depose the congressional candidate.
Elaine Turner, an attorney representing Harlow, said in an email that the lawsuit was an attempt to harass and discourage her client from competing against Jones PR and noted that he has filed counterclaims against the company for unpaid wages.
“The lawsuit brought against Josh Harlow and his company is an inappropriate attempt by Jones PR to prevent Mr. Harlow from fairly competing with his former employer. Jones PR has made untruthful and defamatory allegations against Mr. Harlow and his clients, including Sara Hart Weir,” Turner said.
“Ms. Weir is an innocent bystander, who has had mud unnecessarily slung upon her, in Jones PR’s efforts to discourage Mr. Harlow from working in the PR business after leaving Jones PR.”
Turner also said that Harlow no longer works for NDSS in any capacity. She declined to provide additional information about the reason or specify when his work for NDSS ended.
In its 2019 response to the complaint, Harlow’s legal team argued the contract documents speak for themselves and denied the claims of collusion to make changes.
Jones PR’s complaint alleges that Harlow arranged with Weir to route his pay from NDSS as communications director through a limited liability company and it claims that Weir received payments from that company after her departure from NDSS.
In its response, Harlow’s legal team confirmed that Weir was paid for consulting services by Harlow’s firm, Free Market Enterprises USA, LLC. The filing said Weir’s contract was set to be terminated effectively October 1, 2019.
Leopold said Weir briefly worked as an adviser to NDSS after departing as CEO and that her payments were routed through Harlow’s LLC.
“In September 2019, after the lawsuit was filed, Sara raised concerns about the lawsuit between JonesPR and FME and she voluntarily ended her relationship with both FME and NDSS,” he said in an email.
NDSS did not respond Thursday or Friday to inquiries about the claims made about Weir and the organization in the suit.
Weir has repeatedly touted her work for the organization during the primary campaign, which pits her against former Kansas Republican chair Amanda Adkins, former Roeland Park Mayor Adrienne Vallejo Foster and former Burns & McDonnell executive Mike Beehler.
The Star interviewed last year former NDSS staffers and parents involved in the organization who accused Weir of engaging in intimidation tactics after they raised concerns about Weir’s efforts to curry favor with the political right after President Donald Trump’s election.
The candidate acknowledged last year that some segments of the disability community objected to decisions she made following the election, but she defended those moves as ensuring the Down syndrome had a seat at the table under the Republican administration.
Weir is not the only Kansas connection is the Oklahoma lawsuit.
The suit alleges misconduct by Harlow involving other clients, including that he allegedly embezzled $12,000 from an $82,000 payment related to work done for a client called Kansans for Responsible Legislation.
The obscure advocacy group lists Harlow, who lives in Oklahoma, as its only incorporator on the articles of incorporation it filed with the Kansas Secretary of State’s office in 2017. Harlow’s court filing denies the embezzlement claim, but confirms he used Jones PR’s address for the group on official documents.
This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 1:22 PM with the headline "Claims of collusion entangle Kansas congressional candidate Weir in Oklahoma lawsuit."
