Southfield woman accuses senior VP of disturbing sexual harassment, sending pornographic images

Lawsuit alleges senior VP of Southfield company harassed female manager

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – The Local 4 Defenders investigated a sexual harassment case in which a senior vice president is accused and the company is being sued for a hostile work environment.

There are many disgusting and grotesque allegations in the lawsuit. A senior vice president is accused of sending pornographic texts, photos and videos to a female manager who worked for him.

He is also accused of inappropriate sexual behavior toward her. The behavior is alleged to have occurred over the course of 18 months.

"This behavior should not be tolerated under any circumstances," attorney Sabrina Cronin said.

Cronin is representing Janyl Jentlie, the woman accusing her former boss, Nathan Amoruso, and the company she works for, R1 RCM, a hospital revenue cycle management company.

"The abuse she withstood for nearly 18 months is absolutely absurd, and I am her voice," Cronin said. "It was very hard for her to come forward. So for her to sit here in front of the public and be scrutinized again would be very difficult."

The lawsuit alleges R1 RCM was a "hostile and abusive work environment." It states that within two months of Jentlie's hiring, Amoruso began making inappropriate, lewd and offensive sexual comments toward her. She said they happened before, during and after work hours.

"Look, she thought her job was in jeopardy if she didn't go along with what he was doing or how he was behaving," Cronin said. "She was very afraid of losing her job."

The lawsuit said Amoruso tried to kiss Jentlie and grabbed her buttocks. He is accused of entering her office uninvited and unsolicited, closing the door and unzipping his pants.

"She would be on conference calls," Cronin said. "He would come in, lock the door behind him, then please himself, then leave."

The lawsuit says Jentlie was horrified by the acts, and that Amoruso would prevent her from leaving the room.

"He was told under no circumstances does she want that behavior to continue," Cronin said. "She absolutely went to (human resources), and although HR, it is our allegation that they acknowledged this behavior, nothing was ever done."

The allegations don't stop there. The lawsuit states the harassment also came through pornographic texts, photos and videos.

The lawsuit alleges Amoruso sent Jentlie a video exposing himself on an airplane and sent explicit photos, including himself wearing women's lingerie.

"She was a nervous wreck," Cronin said. "She had to walk in with her head held high as a manager overseeing other people. But yet have to succumb to this horrible, intolerable behavior."

According to the lawsuit, things changed after Jentlie complained. She said she was ostracized and excluded from important meetings that pertained to her job, even being omitted from emails she would have received.

"She is basically isolated from the very job duties that she had done before," Cronin said.

Work inside R1 RCM at the Southfield office is described as hostile and abusive in the lawsuit. 

An R1 RCM company spokesperson released the following statement to the Local 4 Defenders:

"We are committed to treating all of our employees fairly with dignity and respect. We have strong policies and programs in place to monitor inappropriate behavior as discrimination, harassment or retaliation in any form is not tolerated. We take matters of this nature extremely seriously, thoroughly review any such allegations and take disciplinary actions when appropriate. As a matter of company policy, we do not comment on litigation or personnel matters. That said, we thoroughly reviewed the allegations and took swift action. R1 remains focused on achieving our mission to serve as the trusted revenue cycle management partner for healthcare providers, allowing providers and patients to focus on what matters most."

The Defenders have learned Amoruso's employment ended Oct. 17. The company wouldn't answer any questions about why it took so long to react to the allegations against Amoruso because of the ongoing lawsuit.

You can view the full lawsuit below. WARNING: Some of the descriptions in the lawsuit are explicit and disturbing.


About the Authors:

Karen Drew is the anchor of Local 4 News First at 4, weekdays at 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. She is also an award-winning investigative reporter.

Derick is the Lead Digital Editor for ClickOnDetroit and has been with Local 4 News since April 2013. Derick specializes in breaking news, crime and local sports.