The email sent by Michelle Obama’s former Chief of Staff Tina Tchen which was the precursor to text and phone call exchanges between SA Kim Foxx and an unknown #JussieSmolett family member. pic.twitter.com/aRUiK3XYWQ

From the Montgomery Advertiser last week:

SPLC offices to be examined by ‘gender and racial equity’ expert

Melissa Brown, Montgomery Advertiser Published 10:10 a.m. CT March 19, 2019 |

Days after it fired co-founder Morris Dees for undisclosed misconduct issues, the Southern Poverty Law Center hired a Chicago-based lawyer well-versed in gender and racial equity issues to review its workplace environment and policies.

Tina Tchen, a former White House official and Chicago-based lawyer, has been retained to review SPLC’s workplace culture and practices.

Tina Tchen previously worked as chief of staff to then-first lady Michelle Obama and now leads a “workplace cultural compliance” practice at Buckley LLP, which examines “gender and racial equity, sexual harassment” and other diversity barriers in the workplace.

The review was announced on Thursday alongside the termination of Dees. SPLC President Richard Cohen said at the time Dees failed to adhere to the organization’s “values,” hinting at misconduct.

According to a biography on Buckley LLP’s website, Tchen previously served as chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama and assistant to President Barack Obama. She was involved in multiple White House gender equity initiatives, as well as in the formation of the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault.