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	Fired Exec Sues Catholic Group Life Teen By Trevor Guyette East Valley Tribune September 19, 2007 http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/97681 The former executive of a Catholic youth organization in Mesa filed a civil complaint this month against the group, claiming he was wrongfully terminated for reporting illegal accounting practices. James Thorpe, former chief financial officer for Life Teen, Inc., said in his complaint that the nonprofit corporation violated Arizona law and public policy by firing him for reporting illegal activities. Thorpe alleges in the complaint that he raised concerns about Life Teen in August 2006 and was fired less than two weeks later on Sept. 8, 2006. Thorpe filed the civil lawsuit on Sept. 7 in Maricopa County Superior Court. Life Teen was started at St. Timothy's Catholic Community in Mesa and now has programs in 20 countries, according to the corporation's Web site. Wade Swanson, a Life Teen attorney, declined to comment on what he called a "personnel issue" and said Life Teen had not been informed about the complaint as of Saturday. Swanson confirmed that Thorpe is a former Life Teen employee. The youth group has been shaken in recent years over criminal allegations against the Rev. Dale Fushek, a Life Teen founder who served as pastor at St. Timothy's for 20 years. Fushek resigned from St. Timothy's in April 2005 and was later arrested on suspicion of sex abuse crimes involving former Life Teen participants and staff members. Fushek is awaiting a ruling from the Arizona Supreme Court before he faces trial on seven misdemeanor counts. Thorpe alleges in his complaint that certain members of Life Teen's executive committee asked him to go against generally accepted accounting principles when making entries and preparing reports regarding income from a Life Teen summer camp in Georgia called Covecrest. Thorpe said in the complaint that he informed the executives that doing so would be misleading to the board of directors and the rest of the executive committee. Thorpe also said in the complaint that he was later asked again to violate generally accepted accounting principles when dealing with a donation refund and income from other camps, but refused. Thorpe then met with various members from the board and the executive committee to air his concerns, the complaint alleges. Thorpe claims that he met Life Teen President and CEO Randy Raus less than two weeks later and learned he would be fired the next day despite having received a raise and being informed in his most recent performance review that he "met or exceeded all job responsibilities." In the complaint, Thorpe said he was told he was fired because of a "disconnect" between him and Life Teen, and that Life Teen was "going in a different direction." Thorpe also said the corporation cited Thorpe's "frustration" about the lack of information he needed to do his job. Thorpe has asked for a jury trial. He claims to have suffered "emotional distress, including loss of reputation, loss of profession, and emotional pain, suffering, and humiliation."
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