NEW YORK (AP) – The Foundation of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has sued its former director of development, saying she hurt fund-raising by making sexual advances to potential donors and flirting at fund-raising events.

In a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the foundation accused Sarah Smith of damaging its relationship with potential donors who wanted to contribute to educational initiatives to educate viewers and inspire potential broadcast journalists.

Smith of Decatur, Ga. was accused of damaging fundraising after she was hired last February to serve as the foundation’s director of development. She did not immediately return messages for comment Thursday.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, said she was supposed to raise funds for the foundation while being paid $95,000 annually and 10 percent of any funds she raised.

According to the lawsuit, Smith was warned after she behaved unprofessionally during an August dinner in New York attended by the foundation president and potential donors.

Despite the warning, Smith in late October 2005 was flirtatious and appeared intoxicated at a fundraising dinner where she was to represent the foundation and persuade attendees to donate money, the lawsuit said.

On Nov. 3, she was fired.

The lawsuit alleged that the foundation learned afterward that Smith had used its e-mail system to make inappropriate comments that could be construed as sexual advances to business contacts and potential donors.

The conduct led some potential donors to say they were offended by her conduct, and the foundation had to convince them to reconsider making donations, the lawsuit said.

Saying it could have raised additional funds were it not for Smith’s conduct, the foundation was seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.