A subsidiary of the New York public broadcaster WNET.org has settled a lawsuit by agreeing to repay the United States government $950,000 and to forgo about $1 million in federal grant money that it had been awarded but not yet received.
The suit, filed by the office of the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, asserted that the subsidiary, the Educational Broadcasting Corporation, failed to adequately track the spending of grant money, some of it dating to 2001, from the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. It also said that in some cases the Educational Broadcasting Corporation used money for expenses that were not allowed under terms of the grants. The grants were for the production of programs including
“Cyberchase,” “American Masters,” “Great Performances” and others.
“We’re happy to have this behind us,” Robert Feinberg, WNET.org’s vice president and general counsel, said. “We’re not happy to have to repay grant monies.”
As part of the settlement, reached on Tuesday, WNET.org and the Educational Broadcasting Corporation agreed to adopt a plan to ensure future compliance with federal grant requirements. “This is not a scenario we want to repeat and we have no intention of repeating it,” Mr. Feinberg said.