Woman Says She Was Fired By Ray Charles Foundation For Exposing Fraud

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Former Employee Of The Ray Charles Foundation Claims She Was Fired For Exposing Fraud

According to The Blast, “The Ray Charles Foundation” is being sued by a former employee who claims she was axed go from the organization after she reported possible fraudulent transactions.

Thu Tran reportedly worked as an accountant for the charitable organization beginning in 2014 until she was fired July 9, 2018. Tran claims in earlier this year, she complained to a member of the board of directors about “suspected misappropriate of funds, diversion of charitable assets, and other fraudulent conduct.”

In her lawsuit she says she believed Valerie Ervin( president of the foundation) “had engaged in suspicious financial transactions related to a vehicle purchase, travel expenses, and home improvement, among others matters.” This is when Tran claims that Ervin “began to systematically strip away” her job duties and excluded her from board meeting she had previously attended regularly. Tran claims she was also kept out of “financial and tax audit meetings”.

Tran believes that in “an effort to avoid unwanted attention and embarrassment of a possible investigation into misappropriation of funds and assets,” Ervin got rid of several employees of the foundation before ultimately firing her.

Tran is suing the foundation and Ervin, claiming wrongful termination and other workplace-related violations. She is seeking unspecified damages.