A former executive at Sunrise Children’s Foundation is suing the Las Vegas charity, claiming she was fired for asking too many questions about alleged financial irregularities there.
Beth Miller, in a lawsuit filed last week in Clark County District Court, said she told her supervisors that the foundation illegally used a federal Early Head Start grant to pay expenses for other grant-funded programs and that there had been misallocation of funds and overspending totaling $900,000, among other concerns.
Miller claimed her termination, which came five months after she was hired as chief operating officer of the foundation, was a retaliatory act resulting from her "reporting (to supervisors) financial mismanagement and improprieties engaged in by SCF, insisting upon compliance with federal, state and/or local regulations governing nonprofit corporations and her refusal to solicit fundraising or grants when she believed to do so would be in violation of the law and the public trust when SCF was not functioning in accordance with federal and state law."
Miller said she had a good job as a vice president at the United Way of Southern Nevada but was recruited to the Sunrise Children’s Foundation at a salary of $130,000 beginning Jan. 5, 2011.
The lawsuit said that when Miller's termination came, she was told her position had been eliminated because of the foundation’s financial situation. She was told she was not being let go for cause, and "that it was nothing personal," the suit said.
The lawsuit, filed by attorney Ivy Gage of The Gage Law firm in Las Vegas, claims her firing was in violation of public policy, that SCF breached her two-year employment contract and that SCF and officials there perpetrated a fraud and made misrepresentations by claiming SCF was in solid financial shape to induce Miller to "leave her stable, long-term position with the United Way of Southern Nevada."
The suit seeks unspecified damages, including punitive damages, and lost wages.
The foundation was founded in 1993 as Sunrise Children’s Hospital Foundation and initially had official ties with Sunrise Children’s Hospital, but the word "Hospital" was dropped from the charity’s name in 2005.
The Sunrise Children’s Foundation (SCF) is now among many community groups supported by Sunrise Children’s Hospital.
SCF now provides Early Head Start child development and family support services; Women, Infants and Children nutrition services and other programs benefiting children.
Courtney Orrock, executive director of the foundation, said Friday she had no comment on the lawsuit.
An attorney for the foundation, Joseph Garin, issued this statement on the suit Monday:
"Sunrise Children's Foundation has a proud tradition of enhancing children's lives through key programs that focus on optimal child development. It has been a powerful influence in the lives of more than 200,000 children and families annually. As this matter is pending in the court system, we cannot address specific allegations at this time. We will issue more information when appropriate and we remain confident in a positive outcome. In the interim, Sunrise remains committed to its mission and service to the children and families of this community."
Last February, Miller was honored as one of the local "Women to Watch" in 2011 by In Business Las Vegas, the predecessor publication to VEGAS INC.
Her In Business Las Vegas profile noted she had 14 years of experience in senior management positions with local nonprofits including nine years as COO of the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas.