COLUMBUS, Ohio — After the Columbus Zoo announced it settled with its former CEO Tom Stalf, Stalf’s attorney Rex Cooper said the zoo tried to “destroy him.”
Cooper said his client settled with the zoo “out of concern for his family and to move forward with his life.”
Cooper said by Stalf settling, his client can avoid “incurring hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and spending years of his life in a legal battle with the Zoo.”
But Stalf’s tenure with the zoo was fraught with controversy that involved allegations over both misuse of funds and the treatment of animals. Stalf resigned from the Zoo in May 2021.
In a forensic audit released by the zoo three months after Stalf resigned, it determined Stalf handled more than $400,000 in losses. The audit also determined that other executives mispent thousands in zoo funds.
The zoo said that it reached settlements in January with former Chief Financial Officer Greg Bell and former Director of Purchasing Tracy Murnane, in which each agreed to repay the zoo $132,000 and $11,000, respectively.
Also, a recent documentary made allegations against the zoo’s former director, Jack Hanna. “The Conservation Game” claimed Hanna had ties to the big cat trade across the country, and since then, the zoo has cut ties with animal organizations that were mentioned in the film.
The compounding controversies forced the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to strip the zoo of accreditation in 2021.
Cooper said Stalf was merely the “scapegoat” for the zoo’s woes. He added that Stalf “doesn’t owe” the zoo anything.”
“As the Zoo’s leader for years, Mr. Stalf’s tireless efforts drastically improved the Zoo’s profile nationally and increased revenues by tens of millions of dollars,” Cooper said. “The Zoo made Mr. Stalf a scapegoat even though they knew about and audited every expenditure it now claims was improper. The expenditures at issue passed annual, formal audits.”
The zoo said the settlement directly resulted from the August 2021 audit.
“The settlement results from the board’s requirement that Mr. Stalf repay the zoo for benefits he received inappropriately as identified, in part, in an August 2021 forensic audit conducted by Plante Moran,” the zoo said in a statement.
