Olivia Ballage worked at Hope & Home from 2015 - 2018 and filed a lawsuit alleging Hope & Home's executive director, Ross Wright, engaged in discrimination based on sex, race and disability. The suit also claims retaliation on Wright's part.

Olivia filed this lawsuit representing herself because lawyer fees are incredibly expensive. Olivia alleges in her lawsuit:

Wright "discriminated against me and other female employees by among other things... staring at our breasts while talking to us, looking us up and down in a sexual manner, making inappropriate comments about our physical appearances, speaking about our looks at events as well as wanting us to look a certain way."

"...when I informed them of my disability... demoting me to a position that only required me to do paperwork."

Wright "demanding that we terminate a person of color because he wore his hair in deadlocks..." and "claiming that I would "play that card" in reference to my race when I asked to work from home while on maternity leave..."

The Gazette wrote an article about this lawsuit and the larger group of employees with allegations against Ross Wright. The Hope & Home Board of Directors hired a third-party workplace investigator in September 2019 to look into claims of sexual harassment against these claims. You can find the article at https://gazette.com/news/foste...

21 former employees are calling for the resignation of Ross Wright and Jacque Thurman. Hope & Home hired attorney Ray Deeny back in 2019 to combat these claims.

Olivia is fighting for justice not just for herself but other women who could not bring their allegations through the legal system.

There is a 300 day statue of limitations for claims of discrimination - however, if one claim is within this window, there is an opportunity for others with similar claims to testify.

Please support Olivia Ballage to put an end to the patterns that have led to the victimization of Hope & Home staff members. The goal is to create a healthy workplace so Hope & Home can better serve foster families and foster children.

Support Ballage Lawsuit of Discrimination by Hope & Home

Olivia Ballage filed a lawsuit against Hope & Home on 5/13/21

Team Members