News Release

For Immediate Release
August 24, 2006                                                                                                 
Contact:  Mike Ward
(662) 449-3699

Maddox Foundation Asks MS Court to Halt TN Interference

Hernando, MS. Maddox Foundation sought relief in Chancery Court on Thursday to put an end to the on-going interference of Maddox family members, their attorneys and agents, and Tennessee officials in the operations of the Foundation. “Papers filed by the Foundation today clearly show that James N. Maddox, son of Dan Maddox, who established the Foundation in 1968, was involved in instigating the lawsuit filed by Tommye Maddox Working and a Nashville District Attorney against the Foundation,” said Ronnie Musgrove of Copeland, Cook, Taylor & Bush.

Papers filed today by the Foundation’s attorneys argue that Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General for the 20th Judicial District of Tennessee; Tommye Maddox Working, a former director of the Maddox Foundation; Diversified Trust Corporation (DTC), a Memphis-based corporation and state-chartered trust company; their attorneys and associates have “interfered with the management, operations, assets, business and philanthropic relationships of the Foundation in direct contradiction to the Court’s Final Judgment.” The motion describes the activities of Johnson, Working and others as “imminent efforts to continue that interference and attempt the utter destruction of the Maddox Foundation.”

Recent depositions taken in preparation for pending litigation in Tennessee show that Jim Maddox, prior to any legal action being filed against the Maddox Foundation, contacted both Ms. Working and District Attorney General Johnson about taking action against the Foundation. They also show that DTC recommended three law firms and arranged for Ms. Working to meet with those firms prior to her filing of a lawsuit against the Foundation. DTC, a supposedly “disinterested third party” appointed by a Tennessee court as a “trustee” for the now-defunct Maddox Trust, in fact has been the trustee of Ms. Working’s personal trust since about 1998, and has paid legal fees for the Tennessee law firm involved in the litigation from her personal trust.

“In October of 2005, a ruling in Mississippi Chancery Court determined that the Maddox Foundation’s move and reorganization as a Mississippi non-profit was proper,” said Musgrove. The Foundation’s motion today simply asked the court to enforce its earlier judgment in the matter by issuing a temporary restraining order, pending a permanent injunction, against Ms. Working, Diversified Trust Corporation, and others.

“It is clear that the Maddox family members and others in the Tennessee case are continuing to attempt to undermine the financial strength and integrity of the Maddox Foundation, impairing its ability to serve organizations, people and communities in Middle Tennessee and Mississippi,” Musgrove continued. “We are asking the court to enter an order that will put an end to this. Ms. Costa and the Maddox Foundation must be allowed to concentrate on the foundation’s noble work to support Mississippi and Tennessee charitable organizations, Musgrove stated. “We are determined not to let them destroy the work that Dan and Margaret Maddox began so long ago, and worked so hard to establish,” he added.