The director of the band of Southern University is still in limbo, the brother lawyer defends him in social networks | Education

The future of the famous musical director of the Southern Music was on the air Monday while waiting for the result of an internal investigation caused by a recent lawsuit accusing him of requesting a bribe for the band to appear at an event for children of public schools.

University spokeswoman Janene Tate said Monday that nothing has changed, Nathan Haymer is still the band's director.

Members of the band, popularly known as the human jukebox, flocked to the Southern Board of Supervisors meeting on Friday morning, defending the case for their band director to keep their work.

Haymer He raised his concerns the night before when he spoke at a band banquet. There, according to the attendees, the director, who took over the band in 2014, indicated that he had been asked to resign instead of being fired and that he could not hand out the prizes because they were in his office and he was blocked outside. the room.

Later on Friday, the university released 270 pages of emails between Haymer and several New Orleans Mardi Gras krewes, which included some questionable questions from the band's director. The emails were published in accordance with a request for public records by WBRZ-TV and subsequently released to The Advocate.

Nathan Haymer, except for two brief messages on Facebook, did not say anything publicly since he spoke Thursday night.

His brother and lawyer, Niles Haymer, however, took the opposite course.

On Saturday morning, Niles Haymer continued to cry, posting multiple times on his personal Facebook page in defense of his brother. and then announced that he was not talking again. Reached on Monday, Niles Haymer said he agreed to stop making public comments until his brother's situation at Southern is resolved.

Starting at 6:51 a.m. On Saturday, Niles Haymer complained of "intentional tendentious reports from the local media" that "It is defamatory at best." He argued that his brother collected fees for having the band perform at events and parades, comparing tips and tips; He said they were not bribes, which he equated with a bribe. He published copies of the prices charged by the band at Florida A & M University, another historically black university with a famous marching band; he noted that FAMU includes a specific charge for staff costs, the same reason why his brother was paid more.

"Mr. Nathan B. Haymer paid his staff with the funds, which was divided into four forms," ​​wrote Niles Haymor at one point. "In the contract it was written as an honorarium, this is the same practice that has been used in the last two decades in SU and in other bands."

Later, the lawyer addressed the lawsuit, filed in January, which caused his brother's work problems.

"The civil suit is about an allegation of breach of contract between the plaintiff and his," wrote Niles Haymer. "There was an allegation about a three-year-old text message that was denied." His dispatch to the Band Director more than two years ago.

Tate said he would examine Niles Haymer's claims, but did not receive a He said that any external income generated by the band is supposed to be handled by the Southern University Foundation or the Alumni Federation of the university, and that the money is channeled back into the band's university budget.

In the lawsuit against Nathan Haymer Southern, Maranda White, owner of Octagon Media, based in Baton Rouge, alleges that the band's director reneged on the band's appearances after she refused to comply with a request for " bribe ", which then caught the attention of Southern officials.

According to the lawsuit, in 2015 White reached an agreement with Haymer to make the Human Jukebox and the Dancing Dolls the main attraction at an event for several public schools.

But 10 days before the event in November, Haymer requested through a text message to write a check that would be hidden from the business, according to the lawsuit.

"Yes, ten percent must be a check payable to me so the staff can be compensated appropriately. I ask you to hide this ten percent in your position as a percentage of your business. If this can not be done, let me know, "says the text, according to the lawsuit.

White says that after she refused to pay money under the table, Haymer began to withdraw from the event. and then canceled.

White subsequently met with the administrators of Southern, who then signed a written contract with White for the Human Jukebox to appear at the event, but the band did not show up at that event or in two. Subsequent events: Octagon Media ended up having to return money to several entities because it does not show up, says the lawsuit.