Metro Detroit caregiver files lawsuit against nonprofit, alleging she was fired after reporting sexual assault

Caregiver alleges nonprofit fired her after she reported rape

A woman says she was fired from her job as a caregiver after a co-worker sexually assaulted her. She is now suing the nonprofit.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A caregiver in Metro Detroit said she was fired from her job after reporting that a co-worker sexually assaulted her. She is now suing the nonprofit.

Beth worked for The Hope Network, a Christian organization that provides homes for people with disabilities, in August 2020. She claims that one night after putting the residents to bed, a co-worker held her down and raped her.

She said she went home after her midnight shift and told a relative what happened. That relative helped her report it to her superiors at work. Beth said they told her she needed to report the assault to authorities and get a rape kit done, so she did.

"Then it was constant phone calls and berated from HR: ‘Why did it take two days for me to call them?' Until October, until they finally told me I was fired," she said.

Beth, who was 22 at the time, claims she was fired without an investigation or explanation, and the prosecutor told her they couldn't bring charges because the co-worker claimed it was consensual and there was no way to prove otherwise.

"In fact human resources diminished her account. What they said to her, ‘If you didn’t scream and you didn’t fight back, is it really rape?’" attorney Jonathan Marko said.

Marko said the firing was against the Elliot Larsen's Civil Right's Act.

"The law says if you have a belief that you are making a complaint in good faith then they can’t retaliate against you because you make a complaint, that’s it," he said.

Hope Network released a statement:

"Hope Network is committed to a safe environment for everyone inside our facilities, including patients and staff, and the plaintiff and individual defendant are not currently employed by Hope Network or its affiliates."