Church lawsuit is part of a hoax, its attorney says

The federal discrimination lawsuit against Without Walls International Church is part of an elaborate hoax by a former employee determined to disparage the ministry and its leaders, the church's attorney said Wednesday.

Joshua B. Randolph fabricated a friendship with former NBA coach Avery Johnson to get a job at the church as a youth coordinator, said Barry Cohen, who represents the church.

Randolph's determination to damage the church duped pastor Paula White and The Tampa Tribune, Cohen said.

Randolph filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the church last week in Tampa.

He said he received e-mail messages from Brandon White, son of the church founder, that used the N-word five times.

That's a lie, too, Cohen said. White never sent any e-mails with the racial slur. Randolph "is a dysfunctional misfit," he said.

Randolph said he became friends with Johnson two years ago at a youth event. They struck up a friendship and corresponded mostly by e-mail.

Randolph said Johnson asked him to join Without Walls as a youth director and wanted him to work as an assistant.

Randolph moved to Tampa from Georgia and lived in a hotel near the church. He said he arrived early to get things ready for Johnson's arrival.

None of this is true, Johnson's attorney said Wednesday.

Johnson does not know Randolph and never asked him to represent him at Without Walls, said Johnson's Texas attorney, Casey Marcin. The former coach never contacted Paula White about working as a youth director.

Johnson could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

A person posing as Avery Johnson began corresponding with Paula White in July, Marcin wrote in a letter to the Tribune. This person provided information about himself, his family and his ties to others at notable ministries.

Everybody at the church thought they were dealing with the real Avery Johnson, Marcin wrote.

The Tribune quoted the person reporting to be Johnson after interviewing him via e-mail. The individual said he was not available for a phone interview because he was out of the country doing a story for ESPN.

Marcin said the real Johnson never corresponded with the Tribune.

Cohen's investigators were able to track several text messages sent to Paula White by a person she thought was Johnson.

The number is for Randolph's computer repair shop in Gainesville, Ga.

Randolph can't explain why the number goes to his business, but he insists the church's attack is designed to divert attention from the central issue: Brandon White sent him racially offensive e-mail messages.

"I was waiting for them to do something like this, to try to discredit me," Randolph said. "I have no reason to lie. They are trying to intimidate me with lies."

Randolph said he still believes he was in touch with the real Avery Johnson, but concedes he could have been duped as well. He says he is doing his own investigation.

After Cohen's office sent letters to the media, Johnson issued his own statement.

"These games that the defense is playing are sick and are nothing more than a calculated attempt to discredit the plaintiff in exposing this church for being racist," Randolph wrote.

So what about the racially offensive e-mails? On Friday, Brandon White took a polygraph test, Cohen says in a letter to the Tribune. The test found him to be credible in his denials that he sent the e-mails in question.

This story will continue to unfold today because Randolph plans to hold a noon news conference outside the church to release e-mails he says are from White. Without Walls will hold a separate news conference at 1:30 p.m. at the church.