Former Philadelphia Art Museum CEO accused of misappropriating funds, filing states

This story originally appeared on 6abc.

The Philadelphia Art Museum alleges its former CEO, Sasha Suda, misappropriated funds and lied to cover it up before she was terminated earlier this month, according to a new court filing.

The filing, submitted Thursday in response to Suda’s wrongful termination lawsuit, claims she repeatedly asked for raises, and ultimately awarded herself three increases — two in 2024 and another in July 2025 — despite being told compensation changes required approval from the Board’s Compensation Committee.

“She never informed the Board of these increases because she knew the Board had ‘sole and absolute discretion’ over any increase to her compensation, and had denied her previous requests,” the museum stated in its filing.

The museum says that while Suda was interviewed by a special committee, she allegedly lied about her actions, claiming her subordinates had advised her she was entitled to receive these increases.

Suda, hired in 2022 on a $720,000 annual salary, was fired Nov. 4 following a 12-0 board vote. She contends her dismissal was baseless and alleges a “corrupt and unethical faction” of the board opposed her modernization efforts.

“The Museum’s accusations are false. These are the same recycled allegations from the sham investigation that the Museum manufactured as a pretext for Suda’s wrongful termination,” said her attorney, Luke Nikas. “The motion, as well as its false narrative, fits the Philadelphia Museum’s longstanding pattern of trying to cover up its misconduct and mistreatment of staff.”

Suda had been in the third year of a five-year contract and led a change campaign that included rebranding the museum and unveiling a new logo.

She is seeking two years of severance pay, additional damages and a jury trial.

“Suda has compounded this self-inflicted damage by filing a public complaint laden with false, dishonest, and irrelevant allegations in a baseless attempt to blame others for her misconduct,” the museum said in the filing.

On Friday, Daniel Weiss was announced as the next CEO, effective Dec. 1.