By John Schwing 

WESTPORT — The charitable legacy of Paul Newman — longtime Westport resident, philanthropist and subject of a new HBO documentary — has become a tug of war between two of his daughters and the Newman’s Own Foundation established by the late actor.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday at state Superior Court in Stamford, Susan Kendall Newman and Elinor (Nell) Newman filed suit against Westport-based Newman’s Own Foundation, contending the charity has obstructed their own philanthropic endeavors by “contradicting their father’s intentions and instructions at seemingly every opportunity,” and unilaterally cutting its allocations to their individual foundations.

“Paul Newman achieved worldwide fame as an actor and director, but his most lasting and treasured legacy lies in his dedication to philanthropy and family, which is now under assault, ironically, by Newman’s Own Foundation, the very organization he founded in an effort to preserve and expand that legacy,” the 34-page lawsuit contends.

In a statement emailed Wednesday afternoon to the Westport Journal, the Newman’s Own Foundation called the lawsuit “meritless.”

Newman’s Own Foundation, marking its 40th anniversary this year, according to its website, has a mission: “To nourish and transform the lives of children who face adversity … The Foundation continues Paul Newman’s commitment to use all the money that it receives from the sale of Newman’s Own products to support children, their families and their communities.”

The Newman daughters are seeking $1.6 million in damages on their own behalf and their respective foundations, the SN Foundation, Inc., and the NN Foundation, Inc.

They also want Newman’s Own Foundation to be required to allot $400,000 annually to each of their foundations, an amount they say recently was reduced by half.

They contend those $400,000 allocations are required under terms of the actor’s will in which he granted the Newman’s Own Foundation use of his name, image and publicity/intellectual property rights to license and promote Newman’s Own products, such as salad dressing, pasta sauce, beverages, snacks and pet food.

“The writing on the wall is clear: this is a step toward Newman’s Own Foundation ultimately dismantling entirely one of the most important aspects of Mr. Newman’s plans for his philanthropic legacy by removing his family from the giving process altogether,” the two daughters’ lawsuit states.

The document, filed by Brian Cohen of the Greenwich law firm, Lachtman Cohen, states the daughters decided to file the lawsuit because their individual foundations were established as “a check on Newman’s Own Foundation’s ability to stray too far from Mr. Newman’s priorities for philanthropy.” 

In the decades since it was established, the daughters claim “Newman’s Own Foundation lost its way and strayed from its mission to preserve and honor Paul Newman’s legacy.

“The years since Mr. Newman’s death consist of a long and consistent pattern of disregard, by those in control, of Mr. Newman’s specific intentions and direction, coupled with mismanagement, scandal and questionable practices.”

In its response to the lawsuit, the Newman’s Own Foundation statement says: “The Board’s philanthropic giving decisions vary each year and the importance of our mission requires us to make the best use of our finite resources. 

“Paul Newman established the Newman’s Own Foundation as a private foundation in 2005. The Foundation is governed by a board of directors that must adhere to regulations applicable to 501(c)(3) organizations,” the statement continues. “Best practices surrounding philanthropic organizations do not allow for the establishment of perpetual funding allotments for anyone, including Nell and Susan Newman.”

The Newman’s Own statement also adds that its expenditures to litigate the Newman daughters’ lawsuit “would only divert money away from those who benefit from Paul Newman’s generosity.”

“While we expect to continue to solicit Newman family recommendations for worthy organizations, our funding decisions are made each year and will continue to reflect the clear aim of Paul Newman and our responsibility to the best practices governing private foundations,” the Newman’s Own Foundation statement concludes.

Paul Newman’s idea to create the Newman’s Own Foundation, which since its establishment has reportedly donated hundreds of millions of dollars to charities, is featured in the final episodes of “The Last Movie Stars,” a recently released documentary about Newman and his wife, Joanne Woodward, streaming on HBOMax.

John Schwing, the Westport Journal consulting editor, has held senior editorial and writing posts at southwestern Connecticut media outlets for four decades. Learn more about us here.